BB 


OUR  COUNTRY: 


ITS    POSSIBLE    FUTURE    AND    ITS 
PRESENT    CRISIS. 


BY 

EBV.  JOSIAH  STRONG,  D.  D., 

GENEBAL  SECEETAEY  OF  THE  EVANGELICAL  ALLIANCE 
FOB  THE  UNITED  STATES,  NEW  YORK. 


With  an  Introduction,  by 
PEOF.  AUSTIN  PHELPS,  D.  D. 


"  WE  live  in  a  new  and  exceptional  age.  America  is  another  name  for 
Opportunity.  Our  whole  history  appears  like  a  last  effort  of  the  Divin  6 
Providence  in  behalf  of  the  human  race."—JEmerson. 


ONE  HUNDREDTH  THOUSAND. 


PUBLISHED  BY 

THE    BAKER    &   TAYLOR    CO., 
740  AND  742  BEOADWAY,  NEW  YORK. 

FOB 

THE  AMERICAN  HOME  MISSIONARY  SOCIETY. 


<*{<< 

Prefatory  Note. 


THIS  Volume  was  prepared  for  the  American  Home 
Missionary  Society  by  EEV.  JOSIAH  STRONG,  D.D.,  then  its 
representative  for  the  work  of  Home  Missions  in  Ohio,. 
As  will  be  seen  at  a  glance,  its  main  purpose  is  to  lay 
before  the  intelligent  Christian  people  of  our  country 
facts  and  arguments  showing  the  imperative  need  of 
Home  Missionary  work  for  the  evangelization  of  the 
land,  the  encouragements  to  such  effort,  and  the  danger 
of  neglecting  it. 

Copies  for  perusal  and  distribution  can  be  obtained 
from  the  publishers,  The  Baker  &  Taylor  Co.,  No.  9 
Bond  Street,  New  York.  Fifty  cents  in  cloth  binding 
or  Twenty-five  cents  in  paper. 


Copyrighted  by  the 
AMERICAN    HOME    MISSIONARY    SOCIETY, 

1885. 


12PTON  ACCESSKMI 

*•      '  ' 


INTRODUCTION. 


THIS  is  a  powerful  book.  It  needs  no  introduction  from 
other  sources  than  its  own.  Its  great  strength  lies  in  its  facts. 
These  are  collated  with  rare  skill,  and  verified  by  the  testi- 
mony of  men  and  of  documents  whose  witness  is  authority. 
The  book  will  speak  for  itself  to  every  man  who  cares  enough 
for  the  welfare  of  our  country  to  read  it,  and  who  has  intelli- 
gence enough  to  take  in  its  portentous  story. 

It  is  worthy  of  note  that  almost  all  the  thinking  which  think- 
ing men  have  given  to  the  subject  for  the  last  fifty  years  has 
been  in  the  line  of  the  leading  idea  which  this  volume  enforces — 
the  idea  of  crisis  in  the  destiny  of  this  country,  and  through 
it  in  the  destiny,  of  the  world.  The  common  sense  of  men 
puts  into  homely  phrase  the  great  principles  which  underlie 
great  enterprises.  One  such  phrase  lies  under  the  Christian 
civilization  of  our  land.  It  is  "  the  nick  of  time."  The  pres- 
ent hour  is,  and  always  has  been,  "  the  nick  of  time"  in  our 
history.  The  principle  which  underlies  all  probationary  ex- 
perience comes  to  view  in  organized  society  with  more  stu- 
pendous import  than  in  individual  destiny.  This  book  puts 
the  evidence  of  that  in  a  form  of  cumulative  force  which  is 
overwhelming. 

Fifty  years  ago  our  watchful  fathers  discerned  it  in  their 
forecast  of  the  future  of  the  Republic.  The  wisest  among 
them  even  then  began  to  doubt  how  long  the  original  stock  of 
American  society  could  bear  the  interfusion  of  elements  alien 
to  our  history  and  to  the  faith  of  our  ancestry.  The  conviction 
was  then  often  expressed  that  the  case  was  hopeless  on  any 


IT  OUB  COUNTRY. 

theory  of  our  national  growth  which  did  not  take  into  account 
the  eternal  decrees  of  God.  Good  men  were  hopeful,  only  be- 
cause they  had  faith  in  the  reserves  of  miejht,  which  God  held 
secret  from  human  view. 

Those  now  living  who  were  in  their  boyhood  then,  remem- 
ber well  how  such  men  as  Dr.  Lyman  Beecher,  of  Ohio,  and 
Dr.  Wm.  Blackburn,  of  Missouri,  used  to  return  from  their 
conflicts  with  the  multiform  varieties  of  Western  infidelity,  to 
thrill  the  hearts  of  Christian  assemblies  at  the  East  with  their 
pictures  of  Western  greatness,  and  Western  perils.  Those 
were  the  palmy  days  of  "May  Anniversaries."  The  ideas 
which  the  veterans  of  the  platform  set  on  fire  and  left  to  burn 
in  our  souls  were  three.  The  magnitude  of  the  West  in  geo- 
graphical area ;  the  rapidity  with  which  it  was  filling  up  with 
social  elements,  many  of  them  hostile  to  each  other,  but  nearly 
all  conspiring  against  Christian  institutions ;  and  the  certainty 
that  Christianity  must  go  down  in  the  struggle,  if  Eastern  enter- 
prise was  not  prompt  in  seizing  upon  the  then  present  oppor- 
tunity, and  resolute  in  preoccupying  the  land  for  Christ. 
Again  and  again  Dr.  Beecher  said  in  substance  on  Eastern 
platforms :  "Now  is  the  nick  of  time.  In  matters  which  reach 
into  eternity,  now  is  always  the  nick  of  time.  One  man  now 
is  worth  a  hundred  fifty  years  hence.  One  dollar  now  is  worth 
a  thousand  then.  Let  us  be  up  and  doing  before  it  is  too 
late." 

From  that  time  to  this  the  strain  of  appeal  has  been  the 
same,  but  with  accumulating  volume  and  solemnity  of  warn- 
ing. The  fate  of  our  country  has  been  in  what  Edmund 
Burke  describes  as  "  a  perilous  and  dancing  balance."  Human 
wisdom  could  at  no  time  foresee  which  way  the  scales  would 
turn.  Every  day  has  been  a  day  of  crisis.  Every  hour  haa 
been  an  hour  of  splendid  destiny.  Every  minute  has  been 
*f  the  nick  of  time."  And  this  is  the  lesson  which  this  volume 
emphasizes  by  an  accumulated  array  of  facts  and  testimonies 
and  corollaries  from  them,  the  force  of  which  can  scarcely 


OUR   COUNTRY.  V 

be  overstated.  Fifty  years  of  most  eventful  history  have 
been  piling  up  the  proofs  of  our  national  peril,  till  now 
they  come  down  upon  us  with  the  weight  of  an  avalanche. 
Such  is  the  impression  which  the  argument  here  elaborated 
will  make  upon  one  who  comes  to  it  as  a  novelty,  or  in  whose 
mind  the  facts  have  become  dim. 

One  is  reminded  by  it  of  the  judgment  which  has  been  ex- 
pressed by  almost  all  the  great  generals  of  the  world,  from 
Julius  Csesar  to  General  Grant,  that  in  every  decisive  battle 
there  is  a  moment  of  crisis  on  which  the  fortunes  of  the  day 
turn.  The  commander  who  seizes  and  holds  that  ridge  of 
destiny  wins  the  victory.  The  conflict  for  the  world's  salva- 
tion partakes  of  the  same  character.  And  the  facts  and  their 
corollaries  massed  together  in  this  book  show  that  nowhere 
is  it  more  portentously  true  than  in  this  country.  Our  whole 
history  is  a  succession  of  crises.  Our  national  salvation  de- 
mands in  supreme  exercise  certain  military  virtues.  Vigilance 
in  watching  opportunity ;  tact  and  daring  in  seizing  upon  op- 
portunity ;  force  and  persistence  in  crowding  opportunity  to 
its  utmost  of  possible  achievement — these  are  the  martial  vir- 
tues which  must  command  success. 

This  volume  presents,  also,  with  a  power  which  can  scarcely 
be  exceeded — for  it  is  the  power  of  the  simple  facts — the  truth 
that  Christian  enterprise  for  the  moral  conquest  of  this  land 
needs  to  be  conducted  with  the  self-abandonment  which  deter- 
mined men  would  throw  into  the  critical  moment  in  the  criti- 
cal battle  of  the  critical  campaign  for  a  nation's  endangered 
life.  What  the  campaign  in  Pennsylvania  was  to  the  Civil 
War,  what  the  battle  of  Gettysburg  was  to  that  campaign, 
what  the  fight  for  Cemetery  Hill  was  to  that  battle,  such  is 
the  present  opportunity  to  the  Christian  civilization  of  this 
country. 

Turn  whichever  way  we  will— South,  West,  North,  East — 
we  are  confronted  by  the  same  element  of  crisis  in  the  outlook 
upon  the  future.  Everything  seems,  to  human  view,  to  de- 


VI  OUE   COUNTRY. 

pend  on  present  and  dissolving  chances.  Whatever  can  be 
done  at  aU  must  be  done  with  speed.  The  building  of  great 
States  depends  on  one  decade.  The  nationalizing  of  alien 
races  must  be  the  work  of  a  period  which,  in  a  nation's  life,  is 
but  an  hour.  The  elements  we  work  upon  and  the  elements 
we  must  work  with  are  fast  precipitating  themselves  in  fixed 
institutions  and  consolidated  character.  Nothing  will  await 
our  convenience.  Nothing  is  indulgent  to  a  dilatory  policy. 
Nothing  is  tolerant  of  a  somnolent  enterprise. 

The  climax  of  the  argument  appears  in  the  view  taken  of 
the  auxiliary  relation  of  this  country's  evangelizing  to  the 
evangelizing  of  the  world.  One  who  studies  even  cursorily 
the  beginnings  of  Christianity  will  not  fail  to  detect  a  masterly 
strategy  in  apostolic  policy.  Christian  enterprise  at  the  outset 
took  possession  first  of  strategic  localities,  to  be  used  as  the 
centers  of  church-extension.  The  first  successes  of  Christian 
preachers  were  in  the  great  cities  of  the  East.  The  attractive 
spots,  to  the  divine  eye,  were  those  which  were  crowded  with 
the  densest  masses  of  human  being.  Not  a  trace  do  we  find 
of  labor  thrown  off  at  random  in  the  apostolic  tactics.  As 
little  do  we  discover  of  the  spirit  of  romance.  The  early  mis- 
sions were  not  crusades  for  the  conquest  of  holy  places.  They 
were  not  pilgrimages  to  sacred  shrines.  Martial  ardor  in  the 
work  was  held  well  in  hand  by  martial  skill  in  the  choice  of 
methods  and  localities. 

The  same  military  forecast  has  ruled  Christian  missions 
from  that  day  to  this,  so  far  as  they  have  been  crowned  with 
great  successes.  How  little  of  work  and  expenditure  at  hap- 
hazard has  entered  into  the  splendid  structure  of  English  and 
American  missions  to  the  heathen  I  How  little  has  the  spirit 
of  romance  or  of  aesthetic  taste  ever  accomplished  in  evangeliz- 
ing the  nations !  The  two  localities  to  which  the  romance  of 
Christian  enterprise  would  naturally  turn  are  Palestine  and 
Greece ;  the  one  as  the  home  of  our  Lord,  the  other  as  the 
birthplace  of  art  and  culture.  Yet  how  little,  comparatively 


OUR  COUNTRY.  VII 

speaking,  have  Christian  missions  achieved  in  either  land  I 
Labor  has  been  as  faithful  and  self-sacrifice  as  generous  there 
as  elsewhere;  but  in  the  comparison  with  other  missions, 
where  are  the  fruits? 

Success  in  the  work  of  the  world's  conversion  has,  with 
rare  exceptions,  followed  the  lines  of  human  growth  and  pro- 
spective greatness.  But  a  single  exception  occurs  to  one's 
memory — that  of  the  Hawaiian  Islands.  Seldom  has  a  nation 
been  converted  to  Christ,  only  to  die.  The  general  law  has 
been  that  Christianity  should  seat  itself  in  the  great  metropoli- 
tan centers  of  population  and  of  civilized  progress.  It  has 
allied  itself  with  the  most  virile  races.  It  has  taken  possession 
of  the  most  vigorous  and  enterprising  nations.  The  coloniz- 
ing races  and  nations  have  been  its  favorites.  It  has  aban- 
doned the  dying  for  the  nascent  languages.  Its  affinities  have 
always  been  for  the  youthful,  the  forceful,  the  progressive, 
the  aspiring  in  human  character,  and  for  that  stock  of  mind 
from  which  such  character  springs.  By  natural  sequence,  tne 
localities  where  those  elements  of  powerful  manhood  are,  or 
are  to  be,  in  most  vigorous  development,  have  been  the  strate- 
gic points  of  which  our  religion  has  taken  possession  as  by  a 
masterly  military  genius. 

The  principles  of  such  a  strategic  wisdom  should  lead  ns 
to  look  on  these  United  States  as  first  and  foremost  the  chosen 
seat  of  enterprise  for  the  world's  conversion.  Forecasting  the 
future  of  Christianity,  as  statesmen  forecast  the  destiny  of  na-  < 
tions,  we  must  believe  that  it  will  be  what  the  future  of  this 
country  is  to  be.  As  goes  America,  so  goes  the  world,  in  all 
that  is  vital  to  its  moral  welfare.  In  this  view,  this  volume 
finds  the  superlative  corollary  of  its  argument. 

AUSTIN   PHELPS. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE  TIME  FACTOR  IN  THE  PROBLEM. 

The  closing  years  of  the  nineteenth  century  are  one  of  the  great 
focal  points  in  history.  It  is  proposed  to  show  that  the  progress  of 
Christ's  kingdom  in  the  world  for  centuries  to  come  depends  on  the 
next  few  years  in  the  United  States.— P.  1. 

CHAPTER  II. 

NATIONAL  RESOURCES. 

Vastness  of  our  domain,  compared  with  Europe  and  China.  Our 
agricultural  resources  equal  to  sustaining  1,000,000,000  inhabitants. 
Mineral  wealth :  mineral  product  greater  already  than  that  of  any 
other  country.  Manufactures,  present  and  prospective :  led  Great 
Britain,  in  1880,  by  $650,000,000.  Our  threefold  advantage.  United 
States  to  become  the  workshop  of  the  world.  With  all  our  resources 
fully  developed  can  not  only  feed,  but  enrich  1,000,000,000.— P.  7. 

CHAPTER  in. 

WESTERN  SUPREMACY. 

Extent  of  Western  States  and  Territories.  Nearly  two  and  one- 
half  times  as  much  land  west  of  the  Mississippi  as  east  of  it,  not  in- 
cluding Alaska.  The  "  Great  American  Desert,"  Amount  of  arable, 
grazing,  timber,  and  useless  lands.  Mineral  resources  of  the  West. 
With  more  than  twice  the  room  and  resources  of  the  East,  the  West 
will  have  probably  twice  the  population  and  wealth  of  the  East.-P.  15. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

PERELS. —IMMIGRATION. 

Controlling  causes  threefold.  1.  Attracting  influences  in  the 
United  States ;  prospect  of  proprietorship  in  the  soil ;  this  is  the 
land  of  plenty ;  free  schools.  2.  Expellant  influences  of  Europe ; 
prospect  not  pacific ;  France,  Germany,  Austria,  Italy,  Russia,  Great 
Britain  ;  military  duty ;  the  "  blood  tax"  ;  population  becoming  more 
crowded.  3.  Facilities  of  travel ;  labor  saving  machinery.  All  co- 
operate to  increase  immigration.  Foreign  population  in  1900. 
Moral  and  political  influence  of  immigration.  Influence  upon  the 
West. -P.  30. 


OUR   COUNTRY.  ix 

CHAPTER  V. 

PERILS.  — EOMANISM. 

I.  Conflict  of  Romanism  with  the  fundamental  principles  of  our 
government ;  liberty  of  conscience ;  free  speech,  and  a  free  press ; 
free  schools ;  loyalty  to  the  Constitution  and  loyalty  to  the  Pope. 
2.  Attitude  toward  our  free  institutions.  3.  Rapid  growth  of  Roman- 
ism in  the  United  States,  especially  in  the  West.— P.  46. 


CHAPTER   VI. 

PERILS.— MORMONI8M. 

Polygamy  not  an  essential  part  of  Mormonism;  might  be  de- 
stroyed without  weakening  the  system.  Strength  lies  in  ecclesiastical 
despotism.  Mormon  designs.  The  remedy.— P.  59. 

CHAPTER  VII. 

PERILS. — INTEMPERANCE. 

I.  The  progress  of  civilization  renders  men  the  easier  victims  of 
intemperance.     Civilization  must  destroy  the  liquor  traffic,  or  be  de- 
stroyed by  it.    The  problem  serious  enough  in  the  East.    What  of 
the  West,  where  the  relative  power  of  the  saloon  is  two-and-one-half 
times  greater? 

II.  The  liquor  power;  wealth;  organization;   aims;  methods. 
Influence  in  Rocky  Mountains  and  beyond. — P.  68. 


CHAPTER   VIII. 

PERILS.— SOCIALISM. 

The  Socialistic  Labor  Party  and  the  International  Working-men's 
Association.  Teachings.  Numbers.  Conditions  favovable  to  growth : 
1.  Immigration ;  2.  Increasing  Individualism  ;  3.  Prevalence  of  skep- 
ticism ;  4.  Development  of  classes ;  5.  Growing  discontent.  Modern 
enginery  of  destruction.  Conditions  at  the  West  peculiarly  favorable 
to  the  growth  of  Socialism.— P.  85. 

CHAPTER   IX. 

PERILS. — WEALTH. 

Comparative  statement  of  wealth.  Rate  of  increase.  Advantages 
over  Europe.  Dangers:  1.  Mammonism;  2.  Materialism ;  3.  Luxuri- 
ouanesfs ;  4.  Congestion  of  wealth.  All  these  diftigerl  greater  at  the 
W«st  than  at  the  East.— P.  1*2. 


X  OTTE   COUNTRY. 

CHAPTER  X. 

PERILS.— THE  CITY. 

Disproportionate  growth  of  the  city.  Each  of  the  preceding 
perils,  except  Mormonism,  enhanced  in  the  city,  and  all  concentered 
there.  Moral  and  religious  influence  and  government  all  weakest  in 
the  city,  where  they  need  to  be  strongest.  The  West  peculiarly 
threatened.— P.  128. 

CHAPTER  XI 

THE  INFLUENCE  OF  EABLY  SETTLEBS. 

First  permanent  settlers  impress  their  character  on  future  genera- 
tions. Illustrations.  Character  of  the  formative  influences  in  the 
West.-P.  144. 

CHAPTER  XII. 

THE  EXHAUSTION  OF  THE  PUBLIC  LANDS. 

Meaning  of  cheap  public  lands,  and  significance  of  their  occupa' 
tion.  Their  extent.  Exhausted  in  fifteen  or  twenty  years.  The 
character  of  the  West  and,  hence,  the  future  of  the  nation  to  be  de- 
termined by  1900.  —P.  153. 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

THE  ANGLO-SAXON  AND  THE  WOBLD's  FUTUBE. 

Reasons  why  the  world's  future  is  to  be  shaped  by  the  Anglo- 
Saxon.  The  United  States  to  be  the  seat  of  his  power.  The  most 
marked  characteristics  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  race  are  here  being  empha- 
sized, and  the  race  schooled  for  the  competition  with  other  races, 
which  will  begin  as  soon  as  the  pressure  of  population  on  the  means 
of  support  is  felt  in  the  United  States.  The  result  of  that  competi- 
tion. The  responsibility  of  this  generation. — P.  159. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

MONEY  AND   THE  KINGDOM. 

For  an  unparalleled  opportunity  God  has  conferred  on  this  gen- 
eration the  power  of  unprecedented  wealth.  It  is  for  the  Church  to 
recognize  the  relations  of  the  one  to  the  other.— P.  180. 


CHAPTER  I. 


THE  TIME  FACTOR  IN  THE  PROBLEM. 

THERE  are  certain  great  focal  points  of  history  to- 
ward which  the  lines  of  past  progress  have  converged, 
and  from  which  have  radiated  the  molding  influences 
of  the  future.  Such  was  the  Incarnation,  such  was 
the  German  Reformation  of  the  sixteenth  century,  and 
such  are  the  closing  years  of  the  nineteenth  century, 
second  in  importance  to  that  only  which  must  always 
remain  nrst ;  viz.,  the  birth  of  Christ. 

Many  are  not  aware  that  we  are  living  in  extraordi- 
nary times.  Few  suppose  that  these  years  of  peaceful 
prosperity,  in  which  we  are  quietly  developing  a  conti- 
nent, are  the  pivot  on  which  is  turning  the  nation's 
future.  And  fewer  still  imagine  that  the  destinies  of 
mankind,  for  centuries  to  come,  can  be  seriously  af- 
fected, much  less  determined,  by  the  men  of  this  gen- 
eration in  the  United  States.  But  no  generation  ap- 
preciates its  own  place  in  history.  Several  years  ago 
Professor  Austin  Phelps  said:  "Five  hundred  years  of 
time  in  the  process  of  the  world's  salvation  may  de- 
pend on  the  next  twenty  years  of  United  States  his- 
tory," It  is  proposed  in  the  following  pages  to  show 
that  such  dependence  of  the  world's  future  on  this 
generation  in  America  is  not  only  credible,  but  in  the 
highest  degree  probable. 


A  THE   TIME  FACTOR   IN   THE   PROBLEM. 

To  attribute  such  importance  to  the  present  hour 
may  strike  one  who  has  given  little  or  no  study  to  the 
subject  as  quite  extravagant.  It  is  easy  jbo  see  how  a 
great  battle  may  in  a  day  prove  decisive  of  a  nation's 
future.  A  political  revolution  or  a  diplomatic  act  in 
some  great  crisis  may  cut  the  thread  of  destiny;  but 
how  is  it  possible  that  a  few  years  of  national  growth, 
in  tune  of  peace,  may  be  thus  fateful?  Great  civil- 
izations have  been  the  product  of  ages.  Their  char- 
acter is  slowly  developed,  and  changes  therein  are 
slowly  wrought.  What  are  twenty  years  in  a  nation's 
growth,  that  they  should  be  so  big  with  destiny? 

It  must  not  be  forgotten  that  the  pulse  and  the  pace 
of  the  world  have  been  marvelously  quickened  during 
the  nineteenth  century.  Much  as  we  boast  its  achieve- 
ments, not  every  one  appreciates  how  large  a  propor- 
tion of  the  world's  progress  in  civilization  has  been 
made  since  the  application  of  steam  to  travel,  com- 
merce, manufactures,  and  printing.  At  the  beginning 
of  this  century  there  was  very  little  travel.  Men  lived 
in  isolated  communities.  Mutually  ignorant,  they  natu- 
rally were  mutually  suspicious.  In  English  villages  a 
stranger  was  an  enemy.  Under  such  conditions  there 
could  be  little  exchange  of  ideas  and  less  of  commodi- 
ties. Buxton  says:  "Intercourse  is  the  soul  of  prog- 
ress." The  impetus  given  to  inter-communication  of 
every  sort  by  the  application  of  steam  was  the  begin- 
ning of  a  new  life  in  the  world.  Crompton's  spinning- 
mule  was  invented  in  1775 ;  Cartwright's  power-loom 
in  1787;  and  Whitney's  cotton-gin  in  1793;  but  they 
did  not  come  into  common  use  until  the  nineteenth 
century.  At  the  outbreak  of  the  Revolutionary  War 
there  were  in  use  in  English  and  American  homes  the 
same  primitive  means  by  which  the  world's  wool  and 


THE  TIME  FACTOE  IN  THE  PROBLEM.  3 

flax  had  been  reduced  to  yarn  for  thousands  of  years, 
the  same  rude  contrivance  used  in  ancient  Mycenae 
and  Troy  by  Homer's  heroines.  There  are  men  alive 
to-day,  whose  mothers,  like  Solomon's  virtuous  woman, 
laid  their  hands  to  the  spindle  and  distaff,  and  knew  no 
other  way.  William  Fairbairn,  an  eminent  mechanic, 
states  that  "in  the  beginning  of  the  century  the  human 
hand  performed  all  the  work  that  was  done,  and  per- 
formed it  badly."  Methods  of  travel  and  communi- 
cation were  as  primitive  as  those  of  manufacture. 
"Toward  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century  Lord 
Campbell  accomplished  the  journey  from  Edinburgh  to 
London  in  three  days  and  three  nights,  But  judicious 
friends  warned  him  of  the  dangers  of  this  enterprise, 
and  told  him  that  several  persons  who  had  been  so 
rash  as  to  attempt  it  had  actually  died  from  the  mere 
rapidity  of  the  motion."*  In  1879  the  railways  of  Great 
Britain  conveyed  629,000,000  passengers.f  It  took 
Dr.  Atkinson  eight  months  to  go  from  New  England 
to  Oregon  in  1847.  When  he  returned  the  journey 
occupied  six  days.  When  the  battle  of  Waterloo  was 
fought  (1815)  all  haste  delivered  the  thrilling  dispatches 
in  London  three  days  later.  The  news  of  the  bom- 
bardment of  Alexandria  (1882)  was  received  in  the 
English  capital  a  few  minutes  after  the  first  shell  was 
thrown. 

Any  one  as  old  as  the  nineteenth  century  has  seen  a 
very  large  proportion  of  all  the  progress  in  civilization 
made  by  the  race.  When  seven  years  old  he  might 
have  seen  Fulton's  steamboat  on  her  trial  trip  up  the 
Hudson.  Until  twenty  years  of  age  he  could  not  have 
found  in  all  the  world  an  iron  plow.  At  thirty  he 

*  Mackenzie's  History  of  the  Nineteenth  Century,    t  MulhalL 


4  THE  TIME  FACTOR  IN  THE  PROBLEM. 

might  have  traveled  on  the  first  railway  passenger 
train.  Fifty  years  later  the  world  had  222,000  miles 
of  railway.  For  the  first  thirty-three  years  of  his  life 
he  had  to  rely  on  the  tinder-box  for  fire.  He  was 
thirty-eight  when  steam  communication  between  Eu- 
rope and  America  was  established.  He  had  arrived  at 
middle  life  (forty-four)  when  the  first  telegram  was 
sent.  Thirty-six  years  later  the  world  had  604,000 
miles  of  telegraph  lines.  Our  century  has  been  dis- 
tinguished by  a  rising  flood  of  inventions.  The  En- 
glish government  issued  more  patents  during  the 
twenty  years  succeeding  1850  than  during  the  two 
hundred  and  fifty  years  preceding. 

But  this  has  not  been  simply  a  mechanical  era  of 
marvelous  material  progress.  With  the  exception  of 
astronomy,  modern  science,  as  we  now  know  it,  is 
almost  wholly  the  creation  of  the  nineteenth  century. 
In  this  century,  too,  have  the  glorious  fruits  of  mod- 
ern missions  all  been  gathered.  Another  evidence  of 
progress  which,  if  less  obvious  than  material  results, 
is  more  conclusive,  is  found  in  the  great  ideas  which 
have  become  the  fixed  possession  of  men  within  the 
past  hundred  years.  Among  them  is  that  of  individual 
liberty,  which  is  radically  different  from  the  ancient 
conception  of  freedom  that  lay  at  the  foundation  of 
the  Greek  and  Eoman  republics,  and  later,  of  the  free 
cities  of  Italy.  Theirs  was  a  liberty  of  class,  or  clan, 
or  nation,  not  of  the  individual;  he  existed  for  the 
government.  The  idea  that  the  government  exists  for 
fche  individual  is  modern. 

From  this  idea  of  individual  liberty  follows  logically 
the  abolition  of  slavery.  At  the  close  of  the  eighteenth 
century  slavery  existed  almost  everywhere — in  Russia, 
Hungary,  Prussia,  Austria,  Scotland,  in  the  British, 


THE  TIME  FACTOE  IN  THE  PROBLEM.  O 

French,  and  Spanish  colonies,  and  in  North  and  South 
America.  During  the  first  seven  years  of  this  century 
English  ships  conveyed  across  the  Atlantic  280,000 
Africans,  one-half  of  whom  perished  amid  the  horrors 
of  the  "middle  passage,"  or  soon  after  landing.  But 
this  century  has  seen  slavery  practically  destroyed  in 
all  Christendom. 

Another  idea,  which,  like  that  of  individual  liberty, 
finds  its  root  in  the  teachings  of  Christ,  and  has  grown 
up  slowly  through  the  ages  to  blossom  in  our  own, 
is  that  of  honor  to  womanhood,  whose  fruitage  is 
woman's  elevation.  Early  in  this  century  it  was  not 
very  uncommon  for  an  Englishman  to  sell  his  wife  into 
servitude.  "A  gentleman  in  this  country,  in  1815, 
having  access  to  not  a  very  large  number  of  English 
sources  of  information,  found,  in  a  single  year,  thirty- 
nine  instances  of  wives  exposed  to  public  sale,  like 
cattle,  at  Smithfield."*  The  amazement  or  incredulity 
with  which  such  a  statement  is  received  by  this  gener- 
ation is  the  best  comment  on  it. 

Another  striking  evidence  of  progress  is  found  in 
the  enhanced  valuation  of  human  life,  which  has 
served  to  humanize  law  and  mitigate  "man's  inhuman- 
ity to  man."  At  the  beginning  of  this  century  noth- 
ing was  cheaper  than  human  life.  In  the  eye  of 
English  law  the  life  of  a  rabbit  was  worth  more  than 
that  of  a  man ;  for  even  an  attempt  upon  the  former 
cost  the  sacrifice  of  the  latter.  The  law  recognized 

*  Dorchester's  Problem  of  Religious  Progress,  p.  219.  The  New  Monthly 
tfagazine,  for  September,  1814,  contains  the  following:  " Shropshire.— A 
well-looking  woman,  wife  of  John  Hall,  to  whom  she  had  been  married 
only  one  month,  was  brought  by  him  in  a  halter,  and  sold  by  auction,  in  the 
market,  for  two  and  sixpence,  with  the  addition  of  sixpence  for  the  rope 
witk  which  she  was  led.  In  this  sale  the  customary  market  fees  were 
charged— toll,  one  penny ;  pitching,  three  pence." 


6  THE   TIME   FACTOK   IN   THE   PEOBLEM. 

two  hundred  and  twenty-three  capital  offences.  "If  a 
man  injured  Westminster  Bridge,  he  was  hanged.  If 
he  appeared  disguised  on  a  public  road,  he  was  hanged. 
If  he  cut  down  young  trees ;  if  he  shot  at  rabbits ;  if 
he  stole  property  valued  at  five  shillings;  if  he  stole 
anything  at  all  from  a  bleach  field;  if  he  wrote  a 
threatening  letter  to  extort  money;  if  he  returned 
prematurely  from  transportation — for  any  of  these 
offenses  he  was  immediately  hanged."  "In  1816  there 
were  at  one  time  (in  England)  fifty-eight  persons  under 
sentence  of  death.  One  of  these  was  a  child  ten  years 
old."* 

Space  does  not  suffer  even  the  mention  of  other 
noble  ideas,  the  growth  of  which  has  enriched  our 
civilization  and  elevated  man.  Our  glance  at  the  con- 
dition, fourscore  years  ago,  of  the  most  enlightened 
of  the  nations,  hasty  as  it  has  been,  suffices  to  remind 
us  of  the  amazing  changes  which  have  taken  place 
within  a  few  years ;  and  to  show  that  if  we  reckon  time 
by  its  results,  twenty  years  of  this  century  may  out- 
measure  a  millennium  of  olden  time. 

As  the  traveler  in  Asia  follows  the  sun  westward 
around  the  world,  he  finds  life  growing  ever  more  in- 
tense and  time  more  potent. 

"  Better  fifty  years  of  Europe  than  a  cycle  of  Cathay." 

And  to  carry  the  comparison  between  the  East  and 
the  West  a  degree  further,  permit  me  to  quote  an  in- 
telligent Englishman  who  is  a  competent  witness ;  viz., 
Mr.  Joseph  Hatton,  who  says:  "Ten  years  in  the 
history  of  America  is  half  a  century  of  European  pro- 
gress. Ten  years  ago  the  manufactures  of  America  were 
too  insignificant  for  consideration  in  the  Old  World. 

•Mackenzie's  History  of  the  Nineteenth  Century. 


NATIONAL   RESOUBCES.  7 

To-day  England  herself  is  successfully  rivaled  by 
American  productions  in  her  own  markets."*  But  the 
comparison  does  not  end  here.  Ten  years  in  the  New 
West  are,  in  their  results,  fully  equal  to  half  a  century 
east  of  the 'Mississippi.  There  is  there  a  tremendous 
rush  of  events  which  is  startling,  even  in  the  nine- 
teenth century.  That  western  world  in  its  progress  is 
gathering  momentum  like  a  falling  body.  Yast  regions 
have  been  settled  before,  but  never  before  under  the 
mighty  whip  and  spur  of  electricity  and  steam.  Kefer- 
ring  to  the  development  of  the  West,  the  London  Times 
remarks:  "Unquestionably,  this  is  the  most  impor- 
tant fact  in  contemporary  history.  It  is  a  new  fact,  it  can 
not  be  compared  with  any  cognate  phenomenon  in  the 
past."  And,  as  it  is  without  a  precedent,  so  it  will  re- 
main without  a  parallel,  for  there  are  no  more  New 
Worlds. 


CHAPTER  II. 

NATIONAL   KESOUECES. 

IT  is  necessary  to  the  argument  to  show  that  the 
United  States  is  capable  of  sustaining  a  vast  popula- 
tion. 

The  fathers  on  Massachusetts  Bay  once  decided  that 
population  was  never  likely  to  be  very  dense  west  of 
Newton  (a  suburb  of  Boston),  and  the  founders  of  Lynn, 

*  Tb-day  in  America,  1881, 


8  NATIONAL   RESOURCES. 

after  exploring  ten  or  fifteen  miles,  doubted  whether 
the  country  was  good  for  anything  farther  west  than 
that.  Until  recent  times,  only  less  inadequate  has  been 
the  popular  conception  of  the  transmissouri  region 
and  the  millions  destined  to  inhabit  it.  Of  late  years, 
home  missionary  writers  and  speakers  have  tried  to 
astonish  us  into  some  appreciation  of  our  national 
domain.  Yet  it  may  well  be  doubted  whether  even  he 
who  has  pondered  most  upon  its  magnitude  has  a 
"realizing  sense"  of  it.  Though  astonishing  compari- 
sons have  ceased  to  astonish,  I  know  of  no  means  more 
effective  or  more  just  by  which  to  present  our  physical 
basis  of  empire. 

What,  then,  should  we  say  of  a  republic  of  eighteen 
states,  each  as  large  as  Spain;  or  one  of  thirty-one 
states,  each  as  large  as  Italy ;  or  one  of  sixty  states, 
each  as  large  as  England  and  Wales  ?  What  a  confed- 
eration of  nations !  Take  five  of  the  six  first-class 
Powers  of  Europe,  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  France, 
Germany,  Austria,  and  Italy ;  then  add  Spain,  Portugal, 
Switzerland,  Denmark,  and  Greece.  Let  some  greater 
than  Napoleon  weld  them  into  one  mighty  empire,  and 
you  could  lay  it  all  down  in  the  United  States  west  of 
the.  Hudson  River,  once,  and  again,  and  again — three 
times.  Well  may  Mr.  Gladstone  say  that  we  have  "  a 
natural  base  for  the  greatest  continuous  empire  ever 
established  by  man ;"  and  well  may  the  English  premier 
add:  "And  the  distinction  between  continuous  empire 
and  empire  severed  and  dispersed  over  sea  is  vital."* 
With  the  exception  of  Alaska  our  territory  is  compact, 
and  though  so  vast,  is  unified  by  railways  and  an  un- 
equaled  system  of  rivers  and  lakes.  The  latter,  occu- 


NATIONAL   RESOURCES  9 

pying  a  larger  area  than  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  are 
said  to  contain  nearly  one-half  of  all  the  fresh  water 
on  the  globe.  We  are  told  that  east  of  the  Kocky 
Mountains  we  have  a  river-flow  of  more  than  40,000 
miles  (i.e.,  80,000  miles  of  river-bank),  counting  no 
stream  less  than  a  hundred  miles  in  length ;  while  Eu- 
rope in  a  larger  space  has  but  17,000  miles.  It  is  esti- 
mated *  that  the  Mississippi,  with  its  affluents,  affords 
35,000  miles  of  navigation.  A  steamboat  may  pass  up 
the  Mississippi  and  Missouri  3,900  miles  from  the  Gulf 
— "  as  far  as  from  New  York  to  Constantinople.'^ 
Thus  a  "  vast  system  of  natural  canals'*  carries  our  sea- 
board into  the  very  heart  of  the  continent. 

But  what  of  the  resources  of  this  great  empire  which 
makes  so  brave  a  display  on  the  map  ?  Alaska  is  capa- 
ble of  producing  great  wealth,  but  not  including  this 
territory,  the  area  of  the  United  States,  according  to 
the  census  of  1880,  is  2,970,000  square  miles.  Accord- 
ing to  the  smallest  estimate  I  have  ever  seen  (and 
doubtless  too  small),  we  have  1,500,000  square  miles  of 
arable  land.  China  proper,  which,  according  to  her 
last  census,  supports  a  population  of  360,000,000,  has 
an  area  of  1,348,870  square  miles,  or  considerably  less 
than  one-half  of  ours,  not  including  Alaska.  The  Chi- 
nese could  hardly  be  called  a  manufacturing  people ; 
and  when  their  last  census  was  taken  (1812),  their  for- 
eign commerce  was  inconsiderable.  That  vast  popula- 
tion, therefore,  drew  its  support  from  the  soil.  The 
mountains  of  China  occupy  an  area  of  more  than 
300,000  square  miles,  and  some  of  her  plains  are  bar- 
ren. It  would  seem,  then,  that  our  arable  lands,  taking 
the  lowest  estimate,  are  in  excess  of  those  of  China,  by 
some  hundreds  of  thousands  of  square  miles.  The 
ffia  Britannic^  t  tfr. 


10  NATIONAL   RESOURCES. 

fact,  therefore,  that  Chinese  agriculture,  with  its  rude 
implements,  feeds  hundreds  of  millions  ought,  certainly, 
fco  be  suggestive  to  Americans. 

The  crops  of  1879,  after  feeding  our  50,000,000  in- 
habitants, furnished  more  than  283,000,000  bushels  of 
grain  for  export.  The  corn,  wheat,  oats,  barley,  rye, 
buckwheat  and  potatoes— that  is,  the  food  crops,  weire 
that  year  produced  on  105,097,750  acres,  or  164,215 
square  miles.  But  that  is  less  than  one-ninth  of  the 
smallest  estimate  of  our  arable  lands.  If,  therefore, 
it  were  all  brought  under  the  plow,  it  would  feed 
450,000,000  and  afford  2,554,000,000  bushels  of  grain 
for  export.  But  this  is  not  all.  So  excellent  an  au- 
thority as  Mr.  Edward  Atkinson  says  that  where  we 
now  support  50,000,000.  people,  "  one  hundred  million 
could  be  sustained  without  increasing  the  area  of  a 
single  farm,  or  adding  one  to  their  number,  by  merely 
bringing  our  product  up  to  our  average  standard  of 
reasonably  good  agriculture;  and  then  there  might 
remain  for  export  twice  the  quantity  we  now  send 
abroad  to  feed  the  hungry  in  foreign  lands."  If  this 
be  true  (and  it  will  hardly  be  questioned  by  any  one 
widely  acquainted  with  our  wasteful  American  farm- 
ing), 1,500,000  square  miles  of  cultivated  land — less 
than  one-half  of  our  entire  area  this  side  of  Alaska — 
are  capable  of  feeding  a  population  of  900,000,000,  and 
of  producing  an  excess  of  5,100,000,000  bushels  of 
grain  for  exportation;  or,  if  the  crops  were  all  con- 
sumed at  home,  it  would  feed  a  population  one-eighth 
larger;  viz.,  1,012,000,000.  This  corresponds  very 
nearly  with  results  obtained  by  an  entirely  different 
process  from  data  afforded  by  the  best  scientific  au- 
thority.* It  need  not,  therefore,  make  a  very  severe 
*  See  Encyclopedia  Britannicai  Vol.  1^  p.  717. 


NATIONAL  RESOU&CES.  11 


draught  on  credulity  to  say  that  our  agricultural  re- 
sources, if  fully  developed,  would  sustain  a  thousand 
million  souls. 

But  we  have  wonderful  wealth  under  the  soil  as  well 
as  in  it.  From  1870  to  1880  we  produced  $732,000,- 
000  of  the  precious  metals.  The  United  States  now 
raises  one-half  the  gold  and  silver  of  the  world's  sup- 
ply. Iron  ore  is  to-day  mined  in  twenty-three  of  our 
states.  A  number  of  them  could  singly  supply  the 
world's  demand.  Our  coal  measures  are  simply  inex- 
haustible. English  coal-pits,  already,  deep,  are  being 
deepened,  so  that  the  cost  of  coal-mining  in  Great 
Britain  is  constantly  increasing,  while  we  have  coal 
enough  near  the  surface  to  supply  us  for  centuries. 
When  storing  away  the  fuel  for  the  ages,  God  knew 
the  place  and  work  to  which  he  had  appointed  us,  and 
gave  to  us  twenty  times  as  much  of  this  concrete  power 
as  to  all  the  peoples  of  Europe.  Among  the  nations 
ours  is  the  youngest  —  the  Benjamin  —  and  Benjamin- 
like  we  have  received  a  five-fold  portion.  Surely  "He 
hath  not  dealt  so  with  any  people."  Our  mineral  pro- 
ducts are  of  unequaled  richness  and  variety.  The 
remarkable  increase  from  1870  to  1880  *  places  us  at 
the  head  of  the  nations.  Our  mining  industries  exceed 
those  of  Great  Britain  three  per  cent.,  and  are  greater 
than  those  of  all  continental  Europe,  Asia,  Africa, 
South  America,  Mexico,  and  the  British  Colonies  col- 
lectively ;  and  as  yet,  we  have  hardly  begun  to  develop 
these  resources.  Thousands  of  square  miles  of  min- 
eral wealth  lie  wholly  untouched. 

*  Mulhall. 

18TO.  1880.            Increase. 

Iron  ore,  tons  ......................    4,500,000  9,500,000  110  per  cent. 

Copper        "    ......................         12,700  20,300        60        " 

Coal            "    ......................  33,000,000  55,000,000        66        " 

Petroleum,  gallons  .................  42,000,000  880,000,000      20-fold. 


12  NATIONAL   BESOUBCES. 

Let  us  glance  at  our  manufactures,  present  and  pro- 
spective. Our  first  great  advantage  is  found  in  our 
superabounding  coal.  Our  second  lies  in  the  fact  that 
we  have  our  raw  material  at  hand.  England  must  go 
at  least  3,000  miles  for  every  cotton  boll  she  spins ;  we 
raise  our  own.  And  mills  are  now  being  built  in  the 
South  which  manufacture  the  cotton  where  it  is  grown. 
We  produce  also  the  wool,  the  woods,  the  hides,  the 
metals  of  every  sort,  all  that  is  required  for  nearly 
every  variety  of  manufacture.  The  remaining  advan- 
tage which  crowns  our  opportunity  is  the  quality  of 
our  labor ;  American  operatives  being,  as  a  class,  the 
most  ingenious  and  intelligent  in  the  world.  Invent- 
iveness has  come  to  be  a  national  trait.  The  United 
States  Government  issues  four  times  as  many  patents 
as  the  English.  From  the  Patent  Office  in  Washing- 
ton there  were  issued,  during  1884,  20,297  patents. 
At  the  International  Electrical  Exposition  in  Paris,  a 
few  years  ago,  five  gold  medals  were  given  for  the 
greatest  inventions  or  discoveries.  How  many  of  them, 
think  you,  came  to  the  United  States  f  Only  five.  The 
Mechanical  World,  of  London,  says  that  the  United 
States  has  the  best  machinery  and  tools  in  the  world; 
and  Mr.  Lourdelot,  who  was  recently  sent  over  here  by 
the  French  Minister  of  Commerce,  says  that  the 
superiority  of  tools  used  here,  and  the  attention  to 
details  too  often  neglected  in  Europe,  are  elements  of 
danger  to  European  industries.  Herbert  Spencer  tes- 
tifies that  "  Beyond  question,  in  respect  of  mechanical 
appliances,  the  Americans  are  ahead  of  all  nations."  * 
The  fact  of  superior  tools  would  alone  give  us  no  small 
advantage,  but  the  possession  of  the  best  machinery 

•  For  much  additional  and  weighty  testimony  to  the  same  point,  see  re- 
port of  Massachusetts  Bureau  of  Statistics  of  Labor  for  1879,  po.  xiii  and  xiv. 


NATIONAL   EESOUECES.  13 

implies  much  more;  viz.,  that  we  have  also  the  best 
mechanics  in  the  world. 

In  close  competition,  any  one  of  the  three  advan- 
tages *enumerated  ought  to  insure  ultimate  supremacy; 
the  coincidence,  then,  of  these  three  great  essentials  of 
manufactures,  each  in  such  signal  measure  as  to  con- 
stitute together  a  triple  advantage,  must  deliver  over 
to  us  the  markets  of  the  world.  Already  have  we  won 
the  first  rank  as  a  manufacturing  people,  our  products 
in  1880  having  exceeded  even  those  of  Great  Britain 
by  $650,000,000.  So  soon  is  Mr.  Gladstone's  prophecy, 
uttered  five  or  six  years  ago,  finding  its  fulfillment. 
Speaking  of  the  United  States,  he  said:  "She  will 
probably  become  what  we  are  now,  the  head  servant  in 
the  great  household  of  the  world,  the  employer-  of  all 
employed,  because  her  service  will  be  the  most  and 
ablest."  And  it  is  interesting  to  note  not  only  our 
position,  but  our  rate  of  progress.  While  the  manu- 
factures of  France,  from  1870  to  1880,  increased  $230,- 
000,000,  those  of  Germany  $430,000,000,  and  those  of 
Great  Britain  $580,000,000,  those  of  the  United  States 
increased  $1,030,000,000.*  Moreover,  the  marked  ad- 
vantages which  we  now  enjoy  are  to  be  enhanced. 
While  England's  coal  is  growing  dearer,  ours  will  be 
growing  cheaper.  The  development  of  our  vast  re- 
sources will  greatly  increase,  and  hence  cheapen,  raw 
materials.  The  superior  ingenuity  and  intelligence  of 
our  mechanics  and  operatives,  which  enable  us  now  to 
compete  with  the  cheaper  labor  of  Europe,  will  con- 
tinue to  give  us  better  machinery,  while  our  rapidly 
increasing  population  will  cheapen  labor.  Even  now, 
with  cheap  labor  against  us,  we  can  lay  down  our 

*  Our  total  agricultural  products  for  1880  were  $2,625,000,000 ; 
lactures  for  the  same  year  were  $4,440,000,000. 


14  NATIONAL   RESOURCES. 

steels  in  Sheffield,  our  lower  grades  of  cotton  in  Man- 
chester,  our    electro-plate  in  Birmingham,   and    our 
watches  in  Geneva,  and  undersell  European  manufac- 
turers on  their  own  doorsills.     What,  then,  may  we 
reasonably   expect,   when,   with   a   dense    population, 
cheap  labor  is  no  longer  against  us  1     And  while  our 
manufactures    are    growing,   our   markets   are   to  be 
greatly  extended.     Steam  and  electricity  have  mightily 
compressed  the  earth.     The   elbows   of  the  nations 
touch.     Isolation — the   mother   of   barbarism — is   be- 
coming impossible.     The  mysteries  of  Africa  are  being 
laid  open,  the  pulse  of  her  commerce  is  beginning  to 
beat.     South  America  is  being  quickened,  and  the  dry 
bones  of  Asia  are  moving;  the  warm  breath  of  the 
Nineteenth  Century  is  breathing  a  living  soul  under 
her  ribs  of  death.     The  world  is  to  be  Christianized 
and  civilized.     There  are  about  1,000,000,000  of  the 
world's  inhabitants  who  do  not  enjoy  a  Christian  civil- 
ization.    Two   hundred  millions   of  these   are  to  be 
lifted  out  of  savagery.     Much  has  been  accomplished 
in  this  direction  during  the  past  seventy-five  years,  but 
much  more  will  be  done  during  the  next  fifty.     And 
what  is  the  process  of  civilizing  but    the  creating  of 
more  and  higher  wants  f     Commerce  follows  the  mis- 
sionary.    Five  hundred  American  plows  went  to  the 
native  Christians  of  Natal  in  one  year.     The  millions 
of  Africa  and  Asia  are  some  day  to  have  the  wants  of  a 
Christian  civilization.     The  beginnings  of  life  in  India 
demand  $12,000,000  worth  of  iron  manufactures,  and 
$100,000,000  worth  of  cotton  goods  in  a  single  year. 
What  will  be  the  wants  of  Asia  a  century  hence?     A 
Christian  civilization  performs  the  miracle  of  the  loaves 
and  fishes,  and  feeds  its  thousands  in  a  desert.     It 
multiplies    populations.     A    thousand    civilized    men 


WESTERN    SUPBEMACY.  15 

thrive  where  a  hundred  savages  starved.  What,  then, 
will  be  the  population  and  what  the  wants  of  Africa,  a 
century  hence  I  And  with  these  vast  continents  added 
to  our  market,  with  our  natural  advantages  fully  real- 
ized, what  is  to  prevent  the  United  States  from  becom- 
ing the  mighty  workshop  of  the  world,  and  our  people 
"  the  hands  of  mankind"  ? 

If  it  is  not  unreasonable  to  believe  that  our  agricul- 
tural resources  alone,  when  fully  developed,  are  capa- 
ble of  feeding  1,000,000,000,  then  surely,  with  our  agri- 
cultural and  mining  and  manufacturing  industries  all 
fully  developed,  the  United  States  can  sustain  and  en- 
rich such  a  population.  Truly  has  Matthew  Arnold 
said :  "  America  holds  the  future." 


CHAPTER  III. 

WESTERN   SUPREMACY. 

"  I  NEVER  felt  as  if  I  were  out  of  doors  before !"  ex- 
claimed a  New  Englander,  as  he  stepped  off  the  cars 
west  of  the  Mississippi,  for  the  first  time. 

The  West  is  characterized  by  largeness.  Mountains, 
rivers,  railways,  ranches,  herds,  crops,  business  trans- 
actions, ideas ;  even  men's  virtues  and  vices  are  cyclo- 
pean.  All  seem  to  have  taken  a  touch  of  vastness 
from  the  mighty  horizon.  Western  stories  are  on  the 
same  large  scale,  so  large,  indeed,  that  it  often  takes  a 
dozen  eastern  men  to  believe  one  of  them.  Thev  have 


16  WESTERN  SUPBEMACY. 

a  secret  suspicion  that  even  the  best  attested  are  in- 
flated exaggerations,  which,  pricked  by  investigation, 
would  burst,  leaving  behind  a  very  small  residuum  of 
fact.  It  will  be  necessary,  therefore,  to  glance  rapidly 
at  the  resources  of  the  West,  in  order  to  show  that  it 
will  eventually  dominate  the  East.  And  by  "  the 
West"  I  mean  that  portion  of  the  country  lying  west 
of  the  Mississippi,  not  including  Alaska,  unless  so 
specified ;  for,  though  that  territory  has  vast  resources 
which  will  some  day  add  much  to  our  wealth,  the  na- 
tional destiny  is  to  be  settled  this  side  of  Alaska. 

Of  the  twenty-two  states  and  territories  west  of  the 
Mississippi  only  three  are  as  small  as  all  New  England. 
Montana  would  stretch  from  Boston  on  the  east  to 
Cleveland  on  the  west,  and  extend  far  enough  south  to 
include  Kichmond,  Ya.  Idaho,  if  laid  down  in  the 
East,  would  touch  Toronto,  Can.,  on  the  north,  and 
Raleigh,  N.  C.,  on  the  south,  while  its  southern 
boundary  line  is  long  enough  to  stretch  from  Wash- 
ington City  to  Columbus,  O.;  and  California,  if  on  our 
Atlantic  seaboard,  would  extend  from  the  southern 
line  of  Massachusetts  to  the  lower  part  of  South  Caro- 
lina; or,  in  Europe,  it  would  extend  from  London 
across  France  and  well  into  Spain.  New  Mexico  is 
larger  than  the  United  Kingdom  of  Great  Britain  and 
Ireland.  The  greatest  measurement  of  Texas  is  nearly 
equal  to  the  distance  from  New  Orleans  to  Chicago,  or 
from  Chicago  to  Boston.  Lay  Texas  on  the  face  of 
Europe,  and  this  giant,  with  his  head  resting  on  the 
mountains  of  Norway  (directly  east  of  the  Orkney 
Islands),  with  one  palm  covering  London,  the  other 
Warsaw,  would  stretch  himself  down  across  the  king- 
dom of  Denmark,  across  the  empires  of  Germany  and 
Austria,  across  Northern  Italy,  and  lave  his  feet  in  the 


WESTERN   STTPKEMACY.  17 

Mediterranean.  Dakota  might  be  carved  into  a  half- 
dozen  kingdoms  of  Greece ;  or,  if  it  were  divided  into 
twenty-six  equal  counties,  we  might  lay  down  the  two 
kingdoms  of  Judah  and  Israel  in  each. 

Place  the  50,000,000  inhabitants  of  the  United  States 
in  1880  all  in  Texas,  and  the  population  would  not  be 
as  dense  as  that  of  Germany.  Put  them  in  Dakota, 
and  the  population  would  not  be  as  dense  as  that  of 
England  and  Wales.  Place  them  in  New  Mexico,  and 
the  density  of  population  would  not  be  as  great  as  that 
of  Belgium.  Those  50,000,000  might  all  be  comfort- 
ably  sustained  in  Texas.  After  allowing,  say  50,000 
square  miles  for  "  desert,"  Texas  could  have  produced 
all  our  food  crops  in  1879 — grown,  as  we  have  seen,  on 
164,215  square  miles  of  land — could  have  raised  the 
world's  supply  of  cotton,  12,000,000  bales,  at  one  bale 
to  the  acre,  on  19,000  square  miles,  and  then  have  had 
remaining,  for  a  cattle  range,  a  territory  larger  than 
the  State  of  New  York. 

Accounting  all  of  Minnesota  and  Louisiana  west  of 
the  Mississippi,  for  convenience,  we  have,  according  to 
the  census  of  1880,*  2,115,135  square  miles  in  the 
West  and  854,865  in  the  East.  That  is,  for  every  acre 
east  of  the  Mississippi  we  have  nearly  two  and  a  half 
west  of  it.  But  what  of  the  "  Great  American  Desert," 
which  occupied  so  much  space  on  the  map  a  genera- 
tion ago?  It  is  nomadic  and  elusive;  it  recedes  be- 
fore advancing  civilization  like  the  Indian  and  buffalo 
which  once  roamed  it.  There  are  extensive  regions, 
which,  because  of  rocks  or  lava-beds  or  alkali  or  alti- 
tude or  lack  of  rain,  are  unfit  for  the  plow ;  but  they 
afford  much  of  the  finest  grazing  country  in  the  world, 

*  The  areas  of  tlie  states  given  in  the  Ninth  Census  have  been  recompute* 
for  the  Tenth. 


18  WESTERN    SUPREMACY. 

much  valuable  timber,  and  mineral  wealth  which  is 
i  enormous.  Useless  land,  though  much  in  the  aggre- 
gate, is  far  less  than  is  commonly  supposed,  and  in 
comparison  with  wealth-producing  lands  is  almost  in- 
significant. The  vast  region  east  of  the  Kocky  Mount- 
ains, though  once  the  home  of  the  "  Great  American 
Desert,"  really  contains  very  little  useless  land.  We 
have  all  heard  of  the  "Bad  Lands"  of  Dakota,  but  they 
comprise  only  about  75,000  acres  out  of  94,528,000  in 
the  territory,  and  even  these  lands  are  an  excellent 
stock-range.  Mr.  E.  V.  Smalley  says* :  "  Cattle  come 
out  of  the  Bad  Lands  in  the  spring  as  fat  as  though 
they  had  been  stall-fed  all  winter."  The  United  States 
Surveyor-General  says:  "The  proportion  of  waste 
land  in  the  territory  (Dakota),  owing  to  the  absence  of 
swamps,  mountain  ranges,  overflowed  and  sandy  tracts, 
is  less  than  in  any  other  state  or  territory  in  the 
Union."  There  are  20,000  square  miles  of  "Bad 
Lands"  in  Northwestern  Nebraska,  rich  in  wonderful 
fossils,  but  economically  worthless.  It  is  often  said 
that  the  Kansas  lands  near  the  Colorado  border  are  al- 
kaline; but  Professor  Mudge,  State  Geologist,  says 
that,  in  fifteen  years  of  exploration,  he  has  found  but 
two  springs  containing  alkalies,  and  has  never  seen  ten 
acres  of  land  in  one  place  which  has  been  injured  by  it. 
There  is  probably  as  little  waste  land  in  Kansas  as  in 
Illinois.  The  "  Staked  Plain"  of  Texas  is  sometimes 
spoken  of  as  a  desert ;  but  a  Texan  writer,  who  has 
lived  there  for  years,  says  of  it :  "  While  it  is  true  that 
this  vast  territory  which  we  are  describing  is  mainly  a 
grazing  country,  it  is  also  true  that  it  abounds  in  fer- 
tile valleys  and  rich  locations  of  large  extent,  which  are 
as  well  watered  and  as  fertile  as  any  in  the  natio-'  i: 

*  The  Century  for  August,  1882. 


WESTEEN   SUPREMACY.  19 

Tnat  portion  of  the  "Staked  Plain"  which  is  mountain- 
ous is  rich  in  minerals. 

Driven  from  the  plains  east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains, 
the  "  Great  American  Desert"  seems  to  have  become  a 
fugitive  and  vagabond  on  the  face  of  the  e&rth.  It 
was  located  for  a  time  by  the  map  makers  in  Utah,  but 
being  persecuted  there,  it  fled  to  Arizona  and  Nevada. 
I  do  not  mean  to  imply  that  there  are  no  was*e  lands 
in  Utah.  Portions  of  the  territory  are  as  worthless  as 
some  of  its  people.  There  are  some  deserts,  one  west 
of  the  Great  Salt  Lake,  which  contains  several  thou- 
sand square  miles ;  but  the  Surveyor-General  of  the 
Territory  says:  "Notwithstanding  the  opinion  of 
many  who  deem  our  lands  *  arid,  desert,  and  worthless,' 
these  same  lands,  under  proper  tillage,  produce  forty 
to  fifty  bushels  of  wheat,  seventy  to  eighty  bushels  of 
Oats  and  barley,  from  two  hundred  to  four  hundred 
bushels  of  potatoes  to  the  acre,  and  fruits  and  vegeta^ 
bles  equal  to  any  other  state  or  territory  in  quantity  and 
quality."  There  are  vast  tracts  which  can  not  be  irri- 
gated, but  it  has  been  discovered  that  by  deep  plowing, 
these  same  lands,  without  artificial  moisture,  can  be 
made  to  produce  bountifully.  The  culture  of  these 
high  lands  was,  the  past  year,  thoroughly  successful. 
Arizona  has  been  considered  a  waste,  and  undoubtedly 
much  land  there  is  arid ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  there 
is  much  also  which  is  wealth  producing.  Gen.  J.  C. 
Fremont,  who,  as  Governor  of  the  Territory  for  several 
years,  had  exceptional  facilities  for  gaining  informa- 
tion, in  his  official  report  in  1878,  said :  "  So  far  as  my 
present  knowledge  goes,  the  grazing  and  farming  lands 
comprehend  an  area  equal  to  that  of  the  State  of  New 
York."  And  a  writer  in  Harper's  Magazine  for  March, 
1883,  says :  "  It  is  estimated  by  competent  authority 


20  WESTEBX   SUPREMACY. 

that,  with  irrigation,  thirty-seven  per  cent,  can  be  re- 
deemed for  agriculture,  and  sixty  per  cent,  for  pastur- 
age." *  Certain  it  is  that  when  the  Spaniards  first 
visited  the  territory,  in  1526,  they  found  ruins  of  cities 
and  irrigating  canals,  which  indicated  that  it  was  once 
densely  populated  by  a  civilized  race  which  subsisted 
by  agriculture. 

There  is  more  barren  land  in  Nevada  than  in  any 
other  state  or  territory  of  the  "West.  The  wealth  of 
the  state  is  not  agricultural  or  pastoral,  but  mineral. 
Nevertheless  the  Surveyor-General  of  the  State  says: 
"  In  our  sage-brush  lands,  alfalfa,  the  cereals,  and  all 
vegetables  flourish  in  profusion  where  water  can  be 
obtained,  and  the  state  is  speedily  becoming  one  of 
the  great  stock-raising  states  of  the  Union."  A  good 
authority  estimates  that  eventually  one-half  of  the 
state  can  be  made  valuable. 

The  area  in  which  occur,  here  and  there,  most  of  the 
worthless  lands  of  the  West,  is  pyramidal  in  shape,  the 
base  extending  along  the  Mexican  line  into  Texas,  and 
the  apex  being  found  in  the  northern  part  of  Idaho. 
That  is,  the  proportion  of  useless  lands  decreases  as 
you  go  north,  until  it  seems  to  disappear  entirely  be- 
fore reaching  the  Northern  Pacific  Kailway.  Mr.  E.  V. 
Smalley,  who,  in  the  summer  of  1882,  traveled  the  line 
of  that  road  before  its  completion,,  writes :  |  "  The 
whole  country  traversed  through  the  northern  tier  of 
territories,  from  Eastern  Dakota  to  Washington,  is  a 
habitable  region.  For  the  entire  distance  every  square 
mile  of  the  country  is  valuable  either  for  farming, 

*  From  all  the  information  I  can  gatber,  this  latter  estimate  seems  to  me 
too  large.  In  my  computation  of  the  valuable  lands  of  the  West,  page  21, 1 
have  called  55,000  square  miles  in  Arizona,  about  one-half  of  the  territory 
worthless, 

t  The  Century  Magazine  for  Oct.,  1882. 


WESTERN   SUPREMACY.  21 

stock-raising,  or  timber-cutting.  There  is  absolutely 
no  waste  land  between  the  well-settled  region  of  Dakota 
and  the  new  wheat  region  of  Washington  Territory. 
Even  on  the  tops  of  the  Eocky  Mountains  there  is  good 
pasturage ;  and  the  vast  timber  belt  enveloping  Clark's 
Fork  and  Lake  Pend  d'  Oreille,  and  the  ranges  of  the 
Cabinet  and  Cceur  d'  Alene  Mountains  is  more  valu- 
able than  an  equal  extent  of  arable  land." 

Comparatively  little  of  the  Eocky  Mountain  region 
has  been  surveyed.  In  the  absence  of  exact  kncfwledge, 
therefore,  we  must  rely  on  the  estimates  of  Surveyor- 
Gen6rals,  Governors,  and  others  who  have  had  oppor- 
tunities to  form  intelligent  opinions  concerning  the 
available  lands  of  the  West.  In  some  cases  official  re- 
ports of  surveys  have  afforded  accurate  information; 
but  in  most  it  has  been  necessary  to  rely  on  estimates 
which  pretend  to  be  only  approximately  correct.  I  be- 
lieve they  are  temperate,  and  will  prove  to  be  rather 
under  than  over  the  truth.  According  to  these  esti- 
mates, the  region  west  of  the  Mississippi  embraces 
785,000  square  miles  of  arable  lands,  645,000  of  grazing 
lands,  260,000  of  timber  lands,  and  425,000  square 
miles  which  are  useless,  except  so  far  as  they  are  min- 
eral lands.  In  weighing  these  figures  several  consid- 
erations should  be  borne  in  mind. 

1.  Generally  speaking,  those  best  acquainted  with 
the  West  make  the  largest  estimates  of  its  resources 
and  have  the  most  faith  in  its  future. 

2.  Land  often  appears  worthless  which  experiment 
proves  to  be  fertile.     For  instance,  the  "  Great  Colum- 
bia Plains"  of  Eastern  Washington.     The  soil,  which 
varies  from  one  foot  to  twenty  feet  in  depth,  is,  except 
in  the  bottom  lands,  a  very  light-colored  loam,  con- 
taining an  unusually  large  percentage  of  alkalies  and 


22  WESTERN   SUPREMACY. 

fixed  acids.  A  few  years  ago,  sowing  wheat  on  that 
soil  would  have  been  deemed  throwing  it  away;  but 
the  experiment  resulted  in  a  revelation ;  viz.,  that 
these  14,000,000  acres  of  peculiar  soil  are  probably 
the  best  wheat  fields  in  all  the  world.  Other  illustra- 
tions equally  striking  might  be  given.  Kev.  A.  Blanch- 
ard,  Home  Missionary  Superintendent  for  East  Wyo- 
ming and  Colorado,*  writes :  "  Nothing  is  more  sur- 
prising than  the  material  for  supporting  a  population 
which  Continues  to  be  developed  in  all  this  region  of 
mountain  and  plain,  which,  twenty  years  ago,  was  con- 
sidered an  inhospitable  desert,  capable  of  supporting 
nothing  but  Indians." 

3.  Barren  lands  are  often  rendered  fruitful.     Water 
is  all  that  is  needed  to  make  most  of  our  western  "  des- 
erts" blossom  as  the  rose.     In  1882  twelve  Artesian 
wells  were  sunk  in  Tulare  County,  California,  with  as- 
tonishing results.      They  were   found  to  flow  from 
200,000  to  1,500,000  gallons  daily;    and   where   once 
were  barren  plains,  the  fields  are  a  succession  of  vine- 
yards, orchards,  and  wheat  fields.     Since  then  many  of 
these  wells  have  been  sunk  in  Arizona,  Nevada,  New 
Mexico  and  Colorado.     Moreover,  the  rainfall  seems  to 
be  increasing  with  the  cultivation  of  the  soil.     It  is 
also  worthy  of  note  that  what  rain  there  is  usually 
falls  in  those  months  when  it  is  most  needed,  and  that 
there  is  little  or  none  during  harvest. 

Oftentimes  all  that  a  sterile  soil  needs  is  treatment 
with  some  mineral  which  Nature  has  deposited  near 

by. 

4.  The  arable  lands  in  the  Rocky  Mountains   are 
mainly  in  valleys,  which,  like  basins,  have  gathered  the 
detritus  of  the  mountains  for  ages.     The  soil  is,  there- 

*  Since  transferred  to  Kansas. 


WESTERN   SUPREMACY.  23 

fore,  very  deep  and  strong,  yielding  much  more  than 
the  same  area  in  the  East;  and  in  the  Southwest 
two  crops  a  year  from  the  same  soil  are  very  common, 
so  that  this  land  is  equal  to  twice  or  three  times  the 
same  area  in  the  East. 

5.  The  above  estimate  of  arable  lands  in  the  "West 
does  not  include  the  timber  lands,  a  large  proportion 
of  which  is  of    the  finest  quality.      Of    the  260,000 
square  miles  of  timber,  45,000  are  in  Texas,  26,000  in 
Arkansas,  and  25,000  in  Minnesota.     Nearly  one-half 
of  the  whole  is  in  the  Mississippi  valley,  and  a  good 
deal  of    the  remainder  is  on  fine  soil,  so  that  it  is 
reasonable  to  infer  that  100,000  square  miles,  or  more, 
of  this  timber  land  would  be  arable,  if  cleared.   More- 
over, much  of   the  645,000  square  miles  of   grazing 
land  will  prove  to  be  arable.     We  may,  therefore,  ex- 
pect the  arable  lands  of  the  West  ultimately  to  reach 
900,000  square  miles,  and  perhaps  1,000,000. 

6.  A  considerable   portion   of    the   854,865   square 
miles  east  of  the  Mississippi  is  not  arable.     In  New 
England,  New  York,  and  Pennsylvania  there  are  94,500 
square  miles  of  unimproved  lands.*     It  is  a  fair  infer- 
ence that  in  the  old  states  where  land  has  long  been 
in  demand,  so  much  would  not  remain  unimproved 
unless  generally  incapable  of  improvement.    Through- 
out the  many  mountain  ranges  of  the  entire  Appa- 
lachian system,  there  is  much  waste  land  and  more 
that  is  not  arable.     In  the  absence  of  any  exact  data  it 
would  seem  from  the  facts  just  given,  that  there  must 
be  not  less  than  50,000  or  60,000  square  miles  of  waste 
land  east  of  the  Mississippi,  and  twice  as  much  that  is 

*New  England  has  28,468  square  miles  not  in  farms,  41,500  unimproved. 
New  York  "    10,402       "          "       "    "      "        29,000  » 

Pennsylvania     "    13,952     "        "       "    "     "       24,000         " 


24  WESTERN   SUPREMACY. 

not  fit  for  the  plow.  This  reduces  the  arable  lands  of 
the  East  to  about  700,000  square  miles  as  against 
785,000  in  the  West,  with  the  probable  eventual  ad- 
dition to  the  latter  of  one  or  two  hundred  thousand 
more.  For  every  acre  in  the  East,  bad  as  well  as  good, 
there  is  another  in  the  West  capable  of  producing 
food ;  and  in  addition,  a  timber  area  as  vast  as  all  New 
England,  New  York,  Pennsylvania,  West  Virginia,  Ohio 
and  Indiana-  And  this,  be  it  remembered,  does  not 
include  the  magnificent  timber  lands  of  Alaska,  which 
William  H.  Seward  said  would  one  day  make  that  ter- 
ritory the  ship-yard  of  the  world.  And  in  addition  to 
all  this,  the  West  has  grazing  lands  50,000  square  miles 
broader  than  the  total  area  of  all  the  states  east  of 
the  Mississippi  not  above  enumerated.  In  1880  there 
were  in  the  West  61,211,000  head  of  live  stock ;  and 
those  vast  plains  are  capable  of  sustaining  several 
times  that  number.  The  West,  therefore,  has  1,690,000 
square  miles  of  useful  land  against  800,000  in  the  East, 
more  than  twice  as  much. 

Nor  have  we  finished  our  inventory  of  western 
wealth.  Its  mineral  resources  are  simply  inexhaustible. 
The  precious  metals  have  been  found  in  most  of  the 
states  and  territories  of  our  Western  Empire.  From 
the  discovery  of  gold  to  June  30th,  1881,  California 
has  produced  $1,170,000,000  of  that  metal.  The  an- 
nual product  is  now  from  eighteen  to  twenty-five  mil- 
lions. From  1863  to  1880,  Idaho  produced  $90,000,- 
000  of  gold  and  silver,  and  Montana  from  1861  to  1879, 
not  less  than  $162,000,000.  In  twenty  years,  Nevada 
produced  $448,545,000  of  the  precious  metals.  The 
production  of  Colorado,  during  the  twenty-four  years 
preceding  1883,  was  $167,000,000.  Her  out-put 'for 
1882  was  $27,000,000.  In  wealth  producing  power  a 


WESTERN   SUPREMACY.  25 

single  rich  mine  represents  a  great  area  of  arable  land. 
For  instance  the  Comstock  Lode,  in  1877,  produced 
$37,062,252.  Those  twelve  insignificant  looking  holes 
in  the  side  of  the  mountain  yielded  more  wealth  that  year 
than  3,890,000  acres  planted  to  corn  the  same  year. 
That  is,  those  few  square  rods  on  the  surface  in  Ne- 
vada were  as  large  as  all  the  corn  fields  of  New  Eng- 
land, New  York,  Pennsylvania,  Michigan,  Wisconsin, 
and  Minnesota  collectively.  Kocky  Mountain  wealth, 
penetrating  thousands  of  feet  into  the  earth,  compen- 
sates for  large  areas  of  barren  surface.  The  agricul- 
tural resources  of  a  country  do  not  now  as  formerly 
determine  its  possible  population.  To-day  easy  trans- 
portation makes  regions  populous  and  wealthy,  which 
once  were  uninhabitable.  Even  if  a  blade  of  grass 
could  not  be  made  to  grow  in  all  the  Rocky  Mountain 
States,  that  region  could  sustain  100,000,000'  souls, 
provided  it  has  sufficient  mineral  wealth  to  exchange 
for  the  produce  of  the  Mississippi  valley.  Quartz 
mines  have  been  known  in  the  Rockies  for  years,  which 
could  not  be  worked  without  heavy  machinery.  The 
inner  chambers  of  God's  great  granite  safes,  where  the 
silver  and  gold  have  been  stored  for  ages  to  enrich 
this  generation,  are  fastened  with  time  locks,  set  for 
the  advent  of  the  railway.  The  projection  of  railway 
systems  into  the  mountains  will  rapidly  develop  these 
mines.  For  the  year  ending  May  31st,  1880,  the 
United  States  produced  55  tons  724  pounds  (avoir- 
dupois) of  gold,  and  1,090  tons  398  pounds  of  silver. 
"  These  huge  figures  may  be  better  grasped,  perhaps, 
by  considering  that  the  gold  represents  five  ordinary 
car-loads,  while  a  train  of  109  freight  cars  of  the  usual 
capacity  would  bo  required  to  transport  the  silver.* 

*Tentli  Census. 


Ub  WESTERN    SUPREMACY. 

But  the  precious  metals  constitute  only  a  small  pari 
of  the  mineral  wealth  of  the  West.  "An  eminent 
metallurgist  and  scientist  has  recently  estimated  the 
entire  mineral  production  of  the  region  west  of  the 
Mississippi,  for  the  year  1880,  as  worth  $1,000,000,000 
and  has  given  the  items  on  which  his  estimate  is 
baaed."*  This  sum  is  equal  to  the  value  of  five-elev- 
enths of  all  our  agricultural  products  for  the  same 
year.  The  West  has  upwards  of  200,000  square  miles 
of  coal  measure,  thirty-eight  times  the  area  of  all  the 
coal  fields  of  Great  Britain,  Excepting  Minnesota, 
coal  has  been  found  in  every  state  and  territory  west 
of  the  Mississippi.  And  not  one  is  without  iron. 
California  has  superior  ores.  The  iron  of  Oregon  is 
equal  to  the  very  best  Swedish  and  Russian  metal. 
Wyoming  has  immense  deposits.  The  supply  of 
Utah  is  enormous.  It  is  found  in  some  form  in  every 
county  of  Missouri.  Iron  Mountain  and  Pilot  Knob 
are  estimated  to  contain  500,000,000  tons  of  the  finest 
ore.  There  are  great  masses  of  iron  in  Texas,  proba- 
bly equal  in  quantity  and  quality  to  any  deposits  in 
the  world.  Lead  is  found  in  all  the  states  and  terri- 
tories of  the  West,  except  Minnesota,  Nebraska,  and  the 
Indian  Territory.  In  many  of  them  the  ores  are  rich  and 
abundant.  The  lead-producing  area  in  Missouri  is 
over  5,000  square  miles.  The  product  of  that  state  in 
1877  was  over  63,000,000  pounds.  Nebraska  and  Kan- 
sas alone  are  without  copper.  Eich  ores  and  native 
metal  abound  in  what  seem  inexhaustible  quantities. 
The  deposits  of  salt  are  without  computation.  Besides 
salt  springs  and  lakes  which  yibl<?  great  quantities, 
there  are  beds  of  unknown  depth  covering  thousands 
of  acres.  Sulphur  also  is  exceedingly  abundant.  In 

*  Our  Western  Empire,  p.  212. 


WESTERN   SUPREMACY.  27 

Idaho  ill)  ere  is  a  mountain  which  is  eighty-five  per  cent, 
pure  sulphur.  A  deposit  in  Louisiana,  equally  pure,  is 
112  feet  thick.  Nevada  has  borax  enough  to  supply 
mankind.  In  "Wyoming  there  are  lakes  in  which  the  de- 
posits of  sulphate  of  soda  are  from  ten  to  fifteen  feet 
in  thickness,  and  almost  chemically  pure.  Gypsum 
abounds.  Texas  has  the  largest  deposits  known  in  the 
world ;  "  enough  to  supply  the  universe  for  centuries." 
The  Colorado  River  of  Texas  cuts  its  way  through 
mountains  of  solid  marble.  In  many  parts  of  tLe 
Rocky  Mountains  there  are  the  finest  building  stones, 
granite,  sandstone  and  marble,  of  all  possible  colors 
and  shades,  without  end.  It  would  be  tiresome  simply 
to  enumerate  the  valuable  minerals  which  swell  the  un- 
developed wealth  of  the  West.  If  recent  reports  are 
correct,  it  is  not  denied  even  tin,  the  world's  supply 
of  which  has  hitherto  been  so  limited.  Inconsiderable 
deposits  have  been  found  in  several  states  and  terri- 
tories; but  Prof.  Bailey,  United  States  Geologist  for 
Montana,  states  that  in  the  region  of  Harney's  Peak, 
he  has  found  tin-bearing  rock  that  can  be  quarried 
from  the  surface,  that  there  are  veins  measuring  more 
than  fifty  feet  in  width  which  will  average  much  better 
than  those  in  Cornwall.  He  declares  that  there  is 
enough  to  supply  the  world,  and  says  that  it  is  impossi- 
ble to  imagine  this  great  body  of  ore  ever  being 
exhausted.  If  these  statements  are  correct,  the 
discovery  is  one  of  the  most  important  of  the  cen- 
tury. 

The  unrivaled  resources  of  the  West  together  with 
the  unequaled  enterprise  of  her  citizens  are  a  sure 
prophecy  of  superior  wealth.  Already  have  some  of 
these  young  states  outstripped  older  sisters  at  the 
East,  as  is  seen  by  the  following  statement  of  wealth 


28  WESTERN   SUPREMACY. 

per  caput  according  to  the  assessed  valuation  of  prop- 
erty in  1880: 

In  South  Carolina $110        In  Kansas $161 

"  Illinois 255          "  Minnesota 330 

"  Vermont 259         "  Colorado 331 

«'  Indiana 368          "  Montana 475 

"  New  York.... 538          "  California 674 

The  West  is  destined  to  surpass  in  agriculture,  stock- 
raising,  mining,  and  eventually,  in  manufacturing. 
Already  appears  the  superiority  of  her  climate,  which 
Montesquieu  declares  "  is  the  most  powerful  of  all  em- 
pires, and  gives  guaranty  alone  of  future  develop- 
ment." Every  advantage  seems  to  be  hers  save  only 
greater  proximity  to  Europe,  and  if  the  East  com- 
mands European  commerce,  the  Golden  Gate  opens 
upon  Asia,  and  is  yet  to  receive 

**  the  wealth  of  Ormus  and  of  Ind," 

and  send  her  argosies  to  all  the  ports  of  the  broad 
Pacific. 

Beyond  a  peradventure,  the  West  is  to  dominate  the 
East.  With  more  than  twice  the  room  and  resources 
of  the  East,  the  West  will  have  probably  twice  the 
population  and  wealth  of  the  East,  together  with  the 
superior  power  and  influence  which,  under  popular 
government  accompany  them.  The  West  will  elect  the 
executive  and  control  legislation.  When  the  center  of 
population  crosses  the  Mississippi,  the  West  will  have 
a  majority  in  the  lower  House,  and  sooner  or  later  the 
partition  of  her  great  territories,  and  probably  some 
of  the  states,  will  give  to  the  West  the  control  of  the 
Senate.  When  Texas-  is  as  densely  peopled  as  New 
England,  it  is  hardly  to  be  supposed  her  millions  will 
be  content  to  see  the  62,000  square  miles  east  of  the 
Hudson  send  twelve  senators  to  the  seat  of  govern- 
ment, while  her  territory  of  262,000  sends  only  two. 


WESTERN   SUPREMACY.  29 

The  West  will  direct  the  policy  of  the  Government, 
and  by  virtue  of  her  preponderating  population  and 
influence  will  determine  our  national  character,  and 
therefore,  destiny. 

Since  prehistoric  times  populations  have  moved 
steadily  westward,  as  De  Tocqueville  said,  "as  if  driv- 
en by  the  mighty  hand  of  God."  And  following  their 
migrations,  the  course  of  empire,  which  Bishop  Berke- 
ley sang,  has  westward  taken  its  way.  The  world's 
scepter  passed  from  Persia  to  Greece,  from  Greece  to 
Italy,  from  Italy  to  Great  Britain,  and  from  Great 
Britain  the  scepter  is  to-day  departing.  It  is  passing 
on  to  "  Greater  Britain,"  to  our  mighty  West,  there  to 
remain,  for  there  is  no  further  West ;  beyond  is  the 
Orient.  Like  the  star  in  the  East  which  guided  the 
three  kings  with  their  treasures  westward  until  at 
length  it  stood  still  over  the  cradle  of  the  young 
Christ,  so  the  star  of  empire,  rising  in  the  East,  has 
ever  beckoned  the  wealth  and  power  of  the  nations 
westward,  until  to-day  it  stands  still  over  the  cradle  of 
the  young  empire  of  the  West,  to  which  the  nations 
are  bringing  their  offerings. 

The  West  is  to-day  an  infant,  but  shall  one  day  be  a 
giant,  in  each  of  whose  limbs  shall  unite  the  strength 
of  many  nations. 


30  PERILS. — IMMIGRATION. 

CHAPTER  IV. 

PERILS IMMIGRATION. 

POLITICAL  optimism  is  one  of  the  vices  of  the  Ameri- 
can people.  There  is  a  popular  faith  that  "  God  takes 
care  of  children,  fools,  and  the  United  States."  We 
deem  ourselves  a  chosen  people,  and  incline  to  the  be- 
lief that  the  Almighty  stands  pledged  to  our  prosper- 
ity. Probably  not  one  in  a  hundred  of  our  population 
has  ever  questioned  the  security  of  our  future.  Such 
optimism  is  as  senseless  as  pessimism  is  faithless. 
The  one  is  as  foolish  as  the  other  is  wicked. 

Thoughtful  men  see  perils  on  our  national  horizon. 
Let  us  glance  at  those  only  which  peculiarly  threaten 
the  West.  America,  as  the  land  of  promise  to  all  the 
world,  is  the  destination  of  the  most  remarkable  migra- 
tion of  which  we  have  any  record.  During  the  last 
four  years  we  have  suffered  a  peaceful  invasion  by  an 
army  more  than  twice  as  vast  as  the  estimated  number 
of  Goths  and  Vandals  that  swept  over  Southern  Eu- 
rope and  overwhelmed  Rome.  During  the  ninety 
years  preceding  1880,  ten  million  foreigners  made 
their  homes  in  the  United  States,  and  three-quarters  of 
them  came  during  the  last  third  of  that  period.  Not 
only  are  they  coming  in  great  numbers,  but  in  num- 
bers rapidly  increasing.  A  study  of  the  causes  of  this 
great  world  movement  indicates  that  as  yet  we  have 
seen  only  beginnings.  Those  controlling  causes  are 
three-fold.  1.  The  attracting  influences  of  the  United 
States.  2.  The  expellent  influences  of  the  Old  World. 
3.  Facilities  for  travel. 

1.  The  attracting  influences  of  the  United  States. 
We  have  already  seen  that  for  every  one  inhabitant  in 


PERILS. IMMIGRATION.  31 

1880  the  land  is  capable  of  sustaining  twenty.  This 
largeness  of  room  and  opportunity  constitutes  an 
urgent  invitation  to  the  crowded  peoples  of  Europe. 
The  prospect  of  proprietorship  in  the  soil  is  a  power- 
ful attraction  to  the  European  peasant.  In  England 
only  one  person  in  twenty  is  an  owner  of  land ;  in 
Scotland,  one  in  twenty-five ;  in  Ireland,  one  in  seven- 
ty-nine, and  the  great  majority  of  land-holders  in  Great. 
Britain  own  less  than  one  acre  each.  More  than 
three-fifths  of  the  United  Kingdom  are  in  the  hands  of 
landlords,  who  own,  each  one,  a  thousand  acres  or 
more.*  One  man  rides  in  a  straight  line  a  hundred 
miles  on  his  own  estate.  Another  owns  a  county  ex- 
tending across  Scotland.  A  gentleman  in  Scotland.has 
recently  appropriated  three  hundred  square  miles  of 
land,  extending  from  sea  to  sea,  to  a  deer  forest; 
evicting  many  families  to  make  room  for  the  deer. 
What  must  free  land  mean  to  such  a  people  I 

This,  moreover,  is  the  land  of  plenty.  The  following 
table,|  giving  the  average  amount  of  food  annually 
consumed  per  inhabitant,  shows  how  much  better  the 
people  of  the  United  States  are  fed  than  any  people  of 
Europe.  Potatoes  are  estimated  as  grain,  at  the  rate 
of  four  bushels  to  one  of  wheat. 


France  

Grain, 
bushels. 
....  24.02 

Meat, 
pounds. 
81.88 
84.51 
57.10 
119.10 
54.05 
25.04 

Austria  

Grain, 
bushels. 

..   13  K7 

Meat, 
pounds. 
56.03 
51.10 
20.80 

Germany  

23.71 

Sweden  and  Norway  12.05 
Italy                            o  «9. 

Belgium    .  .  . 

.  2284 

Great  Britain.  .  . 
Russia  

20.02 
1T.9T 

Europe  

17  66 

57.50 
120.00 

Spain... 

..  1T.68 

United  States... 

..  40.66 

John  Eae  says  that  in  Prussia,  nearly  one-half  of  the 
population  have  to  live  on  an  annual  income  of  $105  to 

*  Encyclopedia  Britannica,  vol.  viii,  p.  223. 

tMulhall,  Balance-Sheet  of  the  World,  1870—1880,  p.  39. 


32  PEKILS. IMMIGRATION. 

a  family.  Is  it  strange  that  they  look  longingly  toward 
the  United  States? 

Immigration  rises  and  falls  with  our  prosperity.  A 
financial  crisis  here  operates  at  once  as  a  check,  but 
numbers  increase  again  with  the  revival  of  business. 
We  shall  have,  as  heretofore,  an  occasional  crash,  fol- 
lowed by  commercial  depression,  but  it  can  hardly  be 
questioned  that  the  development  of  our  wonderful  re- 
sources will  insure  a  high  degree  of  material  prosper- 
ity for  many  years  to  come.  And  the  brightening 
blaze  of  our  riches  will  attract  increased  immigration. 
Equal  rights  also  and  free  schools  are  operative.  We 
expend  for  education  nearly  six  times  as  much,  per 
caput,  as  Europe.  Parents  know  that  their  children 
will  have  a  better  chance  here,  and  come  for  their  sake. 
These  facts  are  becoming  more  widely  known  in  other 
lands.  Every  foreigner  who  comes  to  us  and  wins  suc- 
cess, as  most  of  them  do  under  more  favorable  conditions, 
becomes  an  advertiser  of  our  land ;  he  strongly  attracts 
his  relatives  and  friends,  and  very  likely  sends  them 
money  for  their  passage.  There  is,  therefore,  a  ten- 
dency in  immigration  to  increase  in  geometric  ratio. 

2.  The  expellent  influences  of  Europe.  Social  or 
political  upheavals  send  new  waves  of  immigration  to 
our  shores.  A  glance  at  the  situation  shows  that  the 
prospect  for  the  next  fifteen  or  twenty  years  is  not  pa- 
cific. There  is  scarcely  a  first-class  power  in  Europe 
on  whose  political  horizon  there  are  not  clouds  bigger 
than  a  man's  hand. 

France.  The  French  are  fickle.  Since  the  Kevolu- 
tion  no  regime  has  continued  for  twenty  consecutive 
years.  The  Kepublic  is  not  yet  fifteen  years  old,  and 
the  question  may  fairly  be  raised  whether  it  can  stand 
during  the  remaining  five  years  or  more  which  seem  to 


PERILS IMMIGRATION.  33 

constitute  the  necessary  political  probation  of  a  French 
government.  And  if  the  Eepublic  becomes  perma- 
nent, which  now  seems  likely,  it  will  operate  as  a  con- 
stant thorn  in  the  sides  of  European  monarchies,  by 
stirring  up  popular  discontent. 

Germany.  The  Eevolution  of  1848  showed  that  the 
German  people,  always  lovers  of  freedom,  had  grasped 
the  principles  of  civil  liberty  ;  but  it  also  showed  that 
they  had  no  practical  knowledge  of  self-government. 
During  these  thirty-seven  years  of  increasing  acquaint- 
ance with  our  free  institutions,  their  love  of  liberty 
has  been  growing,  but  in  the  science  of  self-govern- 
ment they  have  gained  no  experience.  They  are  ruled 
by  an  .Imperialist,  and  the  German  Chancellor  is  an 
old  man.  There  is  no  one  in  training  to  take  Bismarck's 
place,  and  in  an  important  sense  he  can  have  no  suc- 
cessor ;  for,  in  consolidating  the  empire,  he  has  done 
for  Germany  what,  in  the  nature  of  the  case,  no  other 
man  can  do.  Germany,  therefore,  has  tolerated  from 
him  what  it  will  tolerate  from  no  other  man.  "  The 
existing  regime  will,  doubtless,  last  his  time ;  and  it  is 
all  the  more  likely  to  do  so  because  everybody  knows  it 
will  not  survive  him"  *  Here,  then,  is  a  mighty  peo- 
ple, liberty  loving,  having  no  practical  knowledge  of 
self-government,  and  he  who  rules  them  is  an  old  man. 
It  looks  as  if  the  death  of  the  Emperor  and  that  of  the 
great  Chancellor  would  be  the  signal  for  movements  little 
short  of  revolutionary.  German  emigration  for  1882 
was  probably  a  quarter  of  a  million.  No  wonder  a 
member  of  the  Reichstag  recently  cried :  "  The  Ger- 
man people  have  now  but  one  want — money  enough  to 
get  to  America"  ;  and  revolution  in  Germany  means  a 
still  greater  exodus. 

*  The  Nation  for  April  3d,  1804. 


34  PERILS. IMMIGRATION. 

Austria.  Nihilism  is  active ;  and  a  blow  struck  by 
Nihilists  last  year  so  terrified  the  Government  that 
several  provinces  of  the  empire  were  placed  under 
military  rule. 

Italy.  The  Italians  are  worse  fed  than  any  other 
people  in  Europe,  save  the  Portuguese.  The  tax-col- 
lector takes  thirty-one  per  cent,  of  the  people's  earn- 
ings !  According  to  a  newly  issued  report  upon  the 
crown-lands,  upwards  of  60,000  small  proprietors  have 
been  evicted  because  unable  to  pay  the  taxes.  And 
taxes  are  increasing.  Notwithstanding  the  industrial 
advance  made  by  Italy  from  1870  to  1880,  the  national 
debt  increased  so  much  more  rapidly  that  the  nation 
was  $200,000,000  poorer  in  1880  than  ten  years  before. 
Growing  population  and  increasing  taxation  are  al- 
ready resulting  in  increased  emigration.  Italy,  pressed 
by  want  as  severe  as  that  of  Ireland,  may  yet  send  a 
like  flood  upon  us. 

Russia.  The  throne  of  the  Czar  stands  on  a  volcano. 
Alexander  HI.  seems  fully  committed  to  Imperialism, 
and  the  Revolutionists  are  fully  determined  that  the 
people  shall  assist  in  the  work  of  government.  They 
are  wholly  unrestrained  by  any  religious  scruples,  and 
do  not  hesitate  to  sacrifice  themselves  as  well  as  their 
enemies  in  the  execution  of  their  plans.  "  The  Govern- 
ment may  continue  to  arrest  and  hang  as  long  as  it 
likes,  and  may  succeed  in  oppressing  single  revolution- 
ary bodies.  .  .  .  But  this  will  not  change  the  state 
of  things.  Revolutionists  will  be  created  by  events ;  by 
the  general  discontent  of  the  whole  of  the  people ;  by  the 
tendency  of  Russia  toward  new  social  forms.  An  entire 
nation  cannot  be  suppressed."  *  The  utterly  lawless 

*  Address  of  the  "  Executive  Committee"  to  the  Emperor,  March  10th, 
1881.     Underground  Russia,  p.  267. 


PERILS. — IMMIGRATION.  35 

Warfare  of  the  Nihilists  naturally  prevents  the  Czar 
from  making  any  concessions,  while  his  arbitrary  and 
oppressive  acts  deepen  popular  discontent.  Apparent- 
ly, the  repressive  policy  of  the  Government  and  popu- 
lar agitation  will  serve  each  to  intensify  the  other,  un- 
til there  results  a  spasmodic  convulsion  throughout 
Russia.  And  revolution  in  Russia  means  increased 
emigration. 

Great  Britain.  There  is  much  popular  discontent  in 
the  United  Kingdom,  which  will  increase  as  England 
loses  her  manufacturing  supremacy.  The  late  Mr. 
Fawcett  says*  that  local  expenditure,  if  it  increases 
during  the  next  quarter  of  a  century  as  during  the 
last,  will  exceed  that  of  the  Imperial  Government.  In 
Liverpool,  for  example,  rates  in  1841  amounted  to  less 
than  $2.00  per  caput;  they  now  amount  to  more  than 
$9.00  per  caput.  Local  authorities  now  raise  $200,- 
000,000  a  year  for  local  purposes,  and  have  an  annual 
deficit  of  $100,000,000,  which  is  met  by  borrowing. 
Local  indebtedness  has  increased  from  $165,000,000  in 
1867  to  $600,000,000  in  1884.  In  1880  the  amount  of 
mortgage  on  landed  property  in  Great  Britain  and  Ire- 
land was  58  per  cent,  of  its  full  value.  An  English- 
man, writing  on  the  coming  revolution  in  England,f 
says  you  can  scarcely  find  an  educated  Englishman, 
who,  if  his  sober  judgment  is  appealed  to,  will  not  tell 
you  there  is  every  likelihood  that  a  complete  social  and 
political  reorganization  will  be  attempted  in  those 
Islands  before  the  close  of  the  nineteenth  century. 
Thomas  Hughes  says :  "  We  may  despise  the  present 
advocates  of  social  democracy,  and  make  light  of  their 
sayings  and  doings  ;  but  there  is  no  man  who  knows 

*  Manual  of  Political  Economy. 

t  North  American  Review,  October,  1888. 


Ob  PERILS. IMMIGRATION. 

what  is  really  going  on  in  England  but  will  admit  that 
there  will  have  to  be  a  serious  reckoning  with  them  at 
no  distant  day."  There  is  but  one  Gladstone,  and  he 
is  an  old  man.  A  writer  in  The  British  Quarterly* 
says :  "  The  retirement  of  Mr.  Gladstone  will  be  the 
breaking  up  of  the  great  deep  in. English  politics." 
And  social  and  political  disturbances  in  Great  Britain 
mean  increased  emigration. 

The  progress  of  civilization  is  in  the  direction  of 
popular  government  All  kings  and  their  armies  can- 
not reverse  the  wheels  of  human  progress.  I  think  it 
was  Victor  Hugo,  who,  with  prophetic  ear,  heard  a 
European  of  some  coming  generation  say:  "Why,  we 
once  had  kings  over  here!"  All  the  races  of  Europe 
will  one  day  enjoy  the  civil  liberty  which  now  seems 
the  peculiar  birthright  of  the  Anglo-Saxon.  De 
Tocqueville,  whom  Mr.  Gladstone  calls  the  Edmund 
Burke  of  his  generation,  said  he  regarded  the  progress 
of  democratic  principles  in  government  as  a  providential 
fact,  the  result  of  a  divine  decree.  Matthew  Arnold, 
after  his  recent  visit  to  America,  speaking  of  the  repub. 
lican  form  of  government,  said:  "It  is  the  only  event- 
ual  form  of  government  for  all  people."  Great  revolu- 
tions, then,  are  to  take  place  in  Europe,  why  not  within 
the  next  twenty-five  years — some  of  them  I  And  judg- 
ing the  future  by  the  past,  they  will  not  be  peaceful. 
The  giant  is  blind  and  grinding  in  his  prison  house, 
howbeit  his  locks  are  growing,  and  we  know  not  how 
soon  he  may  bow  himself  between  the  pillars  of  des- 
potism. 

In  Continental  Europe  generally  the  best  years  of 
all  able-bodied  men  are  demanded  for  military  duty. 
Germans  must  be  seven  years  in  the  army,  and  give 

•  April,  1883. 


PERILS. IMMIGBATION.  37 

three  of  them  to  active  service ;  the  French,  nine 
years  in  the  army  and  five  years  in  active  service; 
Austrians,  ten  years  in  the  army  and  three  in  active 
service ;  Bussians,  fifteen  years  in  the  army  and  six  in 
active  service.  When  not  in  active  service  they  are 
under  certain  restrictions.  In  addition  to  all  this, 
when  no  longer  members  of  the  army,  they  are  liable 
to  be  called  on  to  do  military  duty  for  a  period  varying 
from  two  to  five  years.  This  robbery  of  a  man's  life 
will  continue  to  be  a  powerful  stimulus  to  emigration  • 
and  the  "blood  tax"  which  is  required  to  support  these 
millions  of  men  during  unproductive  years  is  steadily 
increasing.  While  aggregate  taxation  decreased  in  the 
United  States  from  1870  to  1880,  9.15  per  cent.,  it 
increased  in  Europe  28.01  per  cent.  The  increase  in 
Great  Britain  was  20,17  per  cent.;  in  France,  36.13 
per  cent.;  in  Kussia,  37.83  per  cent.;  in  Sweden  and 
Norway,  50.10  per  cent.;  in  Germany,  57.81  per  cent. 
And  notwithstanding  the  burden  of  taxation  is  so 
heavy  and  so  rapidly  increasing,  the  public  debts  of 
Europe  are  making  frightful  growth.  They  have 
nearly  doubled  in  fifteen  years,  and  in  1880  were 
$22,265,000,000.  The  cost  of  government  has  risen 
fifty  per  cent,  in  ten  years.  If  existing  tendencies 
continue  a  quarter  of  a  century  more,  they  must  pre- 
cipitate a  terrible  financial  catastrophe  and  perhaps  a 
great  social  crisis.  Moreover,  the  pressure  of  a  dense 
population  is  increasing;  22,225,000  souls  having  been 
added  to  the  population  of  Europe  during  the  ten 
years  preceding  1880.  Europe  could  send  us  an  un- 
ceasing stream  of  2,000,000  emigrants  a  year  for  a 
century,  and  yet  steadily  increase  her  population. 

We  find,  therefore,  the  prospect  of  political  commo- 
tions, the  thumb-screw   of  taxation,  given  a  frequent 


€58  PERILS. — IMMIG&ATlOtf. 

turn,  and  a  dense  population  becoming  more  crowded, 
all  uniting  their  influence  to  swell  European  emigra- 
gration  for  years  to  come. 

3.  Facilities  of  travel  are  increasing.  From  1870  to 
1880,  39,857  miles  of  railway  were  built  in  Europe, 
only  two  thousand  less  than  in  the  United  States 
during  the  same  period.  Thus,  interior  populations 
are  enabled  more  easily  to  reach  the  seaboard.  Im- 
provements in  steam  navigation  are  making  the  ocean 
passage  easier,  quicker,  and  cheaper.  In  1825  the 
cheapest  passage  from  Europe  to  America  was  about 
$100.  Now  the  rates  from  continental  ports  to  New 
York  are  from  $25  to  $30,  and  from  London  $20. 
Steerage  passage  from  Liverpool  has  been  reduced  to 
$8.  There  are  great  multitudes  in  Europe  who  look 
westward  with  longing  eyes,  but  who  do  not  come, 
only  because  they  cannot  gather  the  passage  money 
and  keep  soul  and  body  together.  The  reduction  of 
rates,  even  a  few  dollars,  makes  America  possible  to 
added  thousands. 

The  threefold  influences,  therefore,  which  regulate 
immigration  all  co-operate  to  increase  it  and  insure 
that  for  years  to  come  this  great  "gulf  stream  of  hu- 
manity "  will  flow  on  with  a  rising  flood. 

Furthermore,  labor-saving  machinery  has  entered 
upon  a  campaign  of  world- wide  conquest.  This  fact 
will  render  still  more  operative  each  of  the  three  classes 
of  influences  enumerated  above.  Wherever  man  labors 
labor-saving  machinery  is  destined  ultimately  to  go ; 
and  the  people  of  the  United  States  are  to  make  most 
of  it  for  the  world.  We  have  mountains  of  iron  and 
inexhaustible  measures'  of  coal,  together  with  a  genius 
for  invention.  Already  are  we  sending  our  machines 
over  the  civilized  world.  A»d  what  does  this  mean? 


PERILS. IMMIGRATION.  39 

Sending  a  machine  to  Europe  that  does  the  work  of  a 
hundred  men,  temporarily  throws  a  hundred  men  out 
of  employment.  That  machine  is  useful  because  it 
renders  useless  the  skill  or  strength  of  a  hundred  men, 
They  cannot  easily,  in  a  crowded  population,  adjust 
themselves  to  this  new  condition  of  things.  The 
making  of  this  machinery  in  the  United  States  in- 
creases the  demand  for  labor  here,  and  its  exportation 
decreases  the  demand  for  labor  in  the  Old  World. 
That  means  immigration  to  this  country.  We  are  to 
send  our  labor-saving  machinery  around  the  globe, 
and  equivalents  in  bone  and  muscle  are  to  be  sent 
back  to  us. 

In  view  of  the  fact  that  Europe  is  able  to  send  us 
nearly  nine  times  as  many  immigrants  during  the  next 
thirty  years  as  during  the  thirty  years  past,  without 
any  diminution  of  her  population,  and  in  view  of  all 
the  powerful  influences  co-operating  to  stimulate 
the  movement,  is  it  not  reasonable  to  conclude  that  we 
have  seen  only  the  advance  guard  of  the  mighty  army 
which  is  moving  upon  us? 

The  Tenth  Census  gives  our  total  foreign-born  popu- 
lation as  6,679,943 ;  but  we  must  not  forget  their  children 
of  the  first  generation,  who,  as  we  shall  see,  present  a 
more  serious  problem  than  their  parents,  the  immi- 
grants. This  class  numbers  8,316,053,  making  a  total 
foreign  population  of  nearly  15,000,000.  In  1882  immi- 
gration nearly  touched  800,000.  In  view  of  the  consid- 
erations already  given,  this  would  not  be  deemed  a  high 
average  for  the  twenty  years  from  1880  to  1900.  On 
that  estimate,  allowing  a  death  rate  of  fifteen  to  one 
thousand  (that  of  1880)  there  will  be  in  1900  over 
19,000,000  persons  of  foreign  birth  in  the  United 
States.  And  if  the  proportion  of  foreign-born  to 


40  PERILS. IMMIGRATION. 

native-born  of  foreign  parentage  continues  the  same, 
our  foreign  population  in  1900  will  be  43,000,000.  So 
immense  a  foreign  element  must  have  a  profound  in- 
fluence on  our  national  life  and  character.  Immi- 
gration brings  unquestioned  benefits,  but  these  do  not 
concern  our  argument.  It  complicates  almost  every 
home  missionary  problem  and  furnishes  the  soil  which 
feeds  the  life  of  several  of  the  most  noxious  growths 
of  our  civilization.  I  have,  therefore,  dwelt  at  some 
length  upon  its  future  that  we  may  the  more  accurately 
measure  the  dangers  which  threaten  us. 

Consider  briefly  the  moral  and  political  influence  of 
immigration.  1.  Influence  on  morals.  Let  me  hasten 
to  recognize  the  high  worth  of  many  of  our  citizens 
of  foreign  birth,  not  a  few  of  whom  are  eminent  in  the 
pulpit  and  in  all  the  learned  professions.  Many  come 
to  us  in  full  sympathy  with  our  free  institutions,  and 
desiring  to  aid  us  in  promoting  a  Christian  civilization. 
But  no  one  knows  better  than  these  same  intelligent 
and  Christian  foreigners  that  they  do  not  represent 
the  mass  of  immigrants.  The  typical  immigrant  is 
a  European  peasant,  whose  horizon  has  been  narrow, 
whose  moral  and  religious  training  has  been  meager 
or  false,  and  whose  ideas  of  life  are  low.  Not  a  few  be- 
long to  the  pauper  and  criminal  classes.  "From  a 
late  report  of  the  Howard  Society  of  London,  it  ap. 
pears  that  'seventy-four  per  cent,  of  the  Irish  dis- 
charged convicts  have  found  their  way  to  the  United 
States.'"*  Moreover,  immigration  is  demoralizing. 
No  man  is  held  upright  simply  by  the  strength  of  his 
own  roots ;  his  branches  interlock  with  those  of  other 
men,  and  thus  society  is  formed,  with  all  its  laws  and 
customs  and  force  of  public  opinion.  Few  men  ap- 

*  Dorchester's  Problem  of  Religious  Progress,  p.  423. 


PERILS. IMMIGRATION.  41 

preciate  the  extent  to  which  they  are  indebted  to  their 
surroundings  for  the  strength  with  which  they  resist, 
or  do,  or  suffer.  All  this  strength  the  emigrant  leaves 
behind  him.  He  is  isolated  in  a  strange  land,  perhaps 
doubly  so  by  reason  of  a  strange  speech.  He  is  trans- 
planted from  a  forest  to  an  open  prairie,  where,  before 
he  is  rooted,  he  is  smitten  with  the  blasts  of  temptation. 
We  have  a  good  deal  of  piety  in  our  churches  that 
will  not  bear  transportation.  It  cannot  endure  even 
the  slight  change  of  climate  involved  in  spending  a 
few  summer  weeks  at  a  watering  place,  and  is  com- 
monly left  at  home.  American  travelers  in  Europe 
often  grant  themselves  license,  on  which,  if  at  home? 
they  would  frown.  Yery  many  church-members,  when 
they  go  west,  seem  to  think  they  have  left  their  Chris- 
tian obligations  with  their  church-membership  in  the 
East.  And  a  considerable  element  of  our  American- 
born  population  are  apparently  under  the  impression 
that  the  Ten  Commandments  are  not  binding  west  of 
the  Missouri.  Is  it  strange,  then,  that  those  who 
come  from  other  lands,  whose  old  associations  are  all 
broken  and  whose  reputations  are  left  behind,  should 
sink  to  a  lower  moral  level  ?  Across  the  sea  they  suf- 
fered many  restraints  which  are  here  removed.  Better 
wages  afford  larger  means  of  self-indulgence ;  often  the 
back  is  not  strong  enough  to  bear  prosperity,  and 
liberty  too  often  lapses  into  license.  Our  population 
of  foreign  extraction  is  sadly  conspicuous  in  our 
criminal  records.  This  element  constituted  in  1870 
twenty  per  cent,  of  the  population  of  New  England, 
and  furnished  seventy-five  per  cent,  of  the  crime. 
That  is,  it  was  twelve  times  as  much  disposed  to  crime 
as  the  native  stock.  The  hoodlums  and  roughs  of  our 
cities  are,  most  of  them,  American-born  of  foreign 


42  PERILS. IMMIGKATION. 

parentage.  Of  the  680  discharged  convicts  who  ap- 
plied to  the  Prison  Association  of  New  York  for  aid, 
during  the  year  ending  June  30th,  1882,  442  were 
born  in  the  United  States,  against  238  foreign-born; 
while  only  144  reported  native  parentage  against  536 
who  reported  foreign  parentage. 

The  Ehode  Island  Work-house  and  House  of  Cor- 
rection had  received,  to  December  31st,  1882,  6,202 
persons  on  commitment.  Of  this  number,  fifty- two 
per  cent,  were  native-born  and  seventy-six  per  cent, 
were  born  of  foreign  parentage.*  While  in  1880  the 
foreign-born  were  only  thirteen  per  cent,  of  the  entire 
population,  they  furnish  nineteen  per  cent,  of  the  con- 
victs in  our  penitentiaries,  and  forty-three  per  cent,  of 
the  inmates  of  work-houses  and  houses  of  correc- 
tion. And  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  a  very  large 
proportion  of  the  native-born  prisoners  were  of  for- 
eign parentage. 

Moreover,  immigration  not  only  furnishes  the  greater 
portion  of  our  criminals,  it  is  also  seriously  affecting 
the  morals  of  the  native  population.  It  is  disease  and 
not  health  which  is  contagious.  Most  foreigners  bring 
with  them  continental  ideas  of  the  Sabbath,  and  the 
result  is  sadly  manifest  in  all  our  cities,  where  it  is  be- 
ing transformed  from  a  holy  day  into  a  holiday.  But 
by  far  the  most  effective  instrumentality  for  debauch- 
ing popular  morals  is  the  liquor  traffic,  and  this  is 
chiefly  carried  on  by  foreigners.  In  1880,  of  the 
"  Traders  and  dealers  in  liquors  and  wines,"t  (I  sup- 
pose this  means  wholesale  dealers)  sixty-three  per  cent' 
were  foreign-born,  and  of  the  brewers  and  maltsters 
seventy-five  per  cent.,  while  a  large  proportion  of  the 

*For  additional  statistics  oa  this  point$  see  North  American  Review,  Janu- 
ary, 1884.  t  The  Tenth  Census. 


. IMMIGRATION.  49 

remainder  were  of  foreign  parentage.  Of  saloon- 
keepers about  sixty  per  cent,  were  foreign -born,  while 
many  of  the  remaining  forty  per  cent,  of  these  cor- 
rupters  of  youth,  these  western  Arabs,  whose  hand  is 
against  every  man,  were  of  foreign  extraction. 

2.  "We  can  only  glance  at  the  political  aspects  of  im- 
migration. As  we  have  already  seen,  it  is  immigration 
which  has  fed  fat  the  liquor  power;  and  there  is  a 
liquor  vote.  Immigration  furnishes  most  of  the  vic- 
tims of  Mormonism ;  and  there  is  a  Mormon  vote.  Im- 
migration is  the  strength  of  the  Catholic  church ;  and 
there  is  a  Catholic  vote.  Immigration  is  the  mother 
and  nurse  of  American  socialism ;  and  there  is  to  be  a 
socialist  vote.  Immigration  tends  strongly  to  the 
cities,  and  gives  to  them  their  political  complexion. 
And  there  is  no  more  serious  menace  to  our  civiliza- 
tion than  our  rabble-ruled  cities.  These  several  perils, 
all  of  which  are  enhanced  by  immigration,  will  be  con- 
sidered in  succeeding  chapters. 

Many  American  citizens  are  not  Americanized.  It 
is  as  unfortunate  as  it  is  natural,  that  foreigners  in  this 
country  should  cherish  their  own  language  and  pecul- 
iar customs,  and  carry  their  nationality,  as  a  distinct 
factor,  into  our  politics.  Immigration  has  created  the 
"  German  vote  "  and  the  "  Irish  vote,"  for  which  politi- 
cians bid,  and  which  have  already  been  decisive  of  state 
elections,  and  might  easily  determine  national.  A  mass 
of  men  but  little  acquainted  with  our  institutions,  who 
will  act  in  concert  and  who  are  controlled  largely  by 
their  appetites  and  prejudices,  constitute  a  very  para- 
dise for  demagogues. 

We  have  seen  that  immigration  is  detrimental  to 
popular  morals.  It  has  a  like  influence  upon  popular 
intelligence,  for  the  percentage  of  illiteracy  among 


44  PERILS. IMMIGEATIOK. 

the  foreign-born  population  is  thirty-eight  per  cent, 
greater  than  among  the  native-born  whites.  Thus 
immigration  complicates  our  moral  and  political  prob- 
lems by  swelling  our  dangerous  classes.  And  as  immi- 
gration is  to  increase  much  more  rapidly  than  the 
population,  we  may  infer  that  the  dangerous  classes 
are  to  increase  more  rapidly  than  hitherto.*  It  goes 
without  saying,  that  there  is  a  dead-line  of  ignorance 
and  vice  in  every  republic,  and  when  it  is  touched  by 
the  average  citizen,  free  institutions  perish ;  for  intelli- 
gence and  virtue  are  as  essential  to  the  life  of  a  re- 
public as  are  brain  and  heart  to  the  life  of  a  man. 

A  severe  strain  upon  a  bridge  may  be  borne  with 
safety  if  evenly  distributed,  which,  if  concentrated, 
would  ruin  the  whole  structure.  There  is  among 
our  population  of  alien  birth  an  unhappy  tendency 
toward  aggregation,  which  concentrates  the  strain 
upon  portions  of  our  social  and  political  fabric.  Cer- 
tain quarters  of  many  of  the  cities  are,  in  language, 
customs  and  costumes,  essentially  foreign.  Many 
colonies  have  bought  up  lands  and  so  set  themselves 
apart  from  Americanizing  influences.  In  1845,  New 
Glarus,  in  southern  "Wisconsin,  was  settled  by  a  colony 
of  108  persons  from  one  of  the  cantons  of  Switzer- 
land. In  1880  they  numbered  1,060  souls;  and  "No  Yan- 
kee lives  within  a  ring  of  six  miles  round  the  first 
built  dug-out."  This  Helvetian  settlement,  founded 
three  years  before  Wisconsin  became  a  state,  has  pre- 
served its  race,  its  language,  its  worship,  and  its  cus- 
toms in  their  integrity.  Similar  colonies  are  now  be- 
ing planted  in  the  "West.  In  some  cases  100,000  or 
200,000  acres  in  one  block,  have  been  purchased  by 

*  From  1870  to  1880  the  population  increased  30.06  per  cent.    During  the 
same  period  the  number  of  criminals  increased  82.33  per  cent. 


PEEILS. IMMIGBATION.  45 

foreigners  of  one  nationality  and  religion ;  thus  build- 
ing up  states  within  a  state,  having  different  lan- 
guages, different  antecedents,  different  religions,  dif- 
ferent ideas  and  habits,  preparing  mutual  jealousies, 
and  perpetuating  race  antipathies.  If  our  noble  domain 
were  ten-fold  larger  than  it  is,  it  would  still  be  too  small 
to  embrace  with  safety  to  our  national  future,  little  Ger- 
manies  here,  little  Scandinavias  there,  and  little  Ire- 
lands  yonder.  A  strong  centralized  government,  like 
that  of  Rome  under  the  Caesars,  can  control  heterogene- 
ous populations,  but  local  self-government  implies  close 
relations  between  man  and  man,  a  measure  of  sympa- 
thy, and,  to  a  certain  extent,  community  of  ideas. 
Our  safety  demands  the  assimilation  of  these  strange 
populations,  and  the  process  of  assimilation  will  be- 
come slower  and  more  difficult  as  the  proportion  of 
foreigners  increases. 

When  we  consider  the  influence  of  immigration,  it 
is  by  no  means  reassuring  to  reflect  that  seventy-five 
per  cent,  of  it  is  pouring  into  the  formative  West. 
We  have  seen  that  in  1900  our  foreign  population, 
with  their  children  of  the  first  generation,  will  proba- 
bly number  not  less  than  43,000,000.  If  the  move- 
ment westward  continues,  as  it  probably  will,  until  the 
free  farming  lands  are  all  taken,  25,000,000  of  that 
foreign  element  will  be  west  of  the  Mississippi.  And 
this  will  be  two-thirds  of  all  the  population  of  the 
West,  even  if  that  population  should  increase  350  per 
cent,  between  1880  and  1900.  Already  is  the  propor- 
tion of  foreigners  in  the  territories  from  two  to  three 
times  greater  than  in  the  states  east  of  the  Mississippi. 
We  may  well  ask — and  with  special  reference  to  the 
West — whether  this  in-sweeping  immigration  is  to  for- 
eignize  us,  or  we  are  to  Americanize  it.  Mr. 


46  PERILS. BOMANISM. 

Beecher  hopefully  says,  when  the  lion  eats  an  ox 
the  ox  becomes  lion,  not  the  lion  ox.  The  illus- 
tration would  be  very  neat  if  it  only  illustrated.  The 
lion  happily  has  an  instinct  controlled  by  an  unfailing 
law  which  determines  what,  and  when,  and  how  much  he 
shall  eat.  If  that  instinct  should  fail,  and  he  should 
some  day  eat  a  badly  diseased  ox,  or  should  very  much 
over-eat,  we  might  have  on  our  hands  a  very  sick  lion. 
I  can  even  conceive  that  under  such  conditions  the  ig- 
noble ox  might  slay  the  king  of  beasts.  Foreigners 
are  not  coming  to  the  United  States  in  answer  to  any 
appetite  of  ours,  controlled  by  an  unfailing  moral  or 
political  instinct.  They  naturally  consult  their  own 
interests  in  coming,  not  ours.  The  lion,  without  being 
consulted  as  to  time,  quantity  or  quality,  is  having 
the  food  thrust  down  his  throat,  and  his  only  alterna- 
tive is,  digest  or  die. 


CHAPTER  V. 

PERILS. ROMANISM. 


THE  perils  which  threaten  the  nation  and  peculiarly 
menace  the  "West  demand,  for  their  adequate  presenta- 
tation,  much  more  space  than  the  narrow  limits  of  this 
work  allow.  We  can  touch  only  salient  points. 


ROMANISM. 


There  are  many  who  are  disposed  to  attribute  any 
fear  of  Boman  Catholicism  in  the  United  States  to 


PEEILS. — ROMANISM.  47 

bigotry  or  childishness.  Such  see  nothing  in  the  char- 
acter and  attitude  of  Komanism  that  is  hostile  to  our 
free  institutions,  or  find  nothing  portentous  in  its 
growth.  Let  us,  then,  first  compare  some  of  the  funda- 
mental principles  of  our  government  with  those  of 
the  Catholic  church. 

The  Constitution  of  the  United  States  guarantees 
liberty  of  conscience.  Nothing  is  dearer  or  more  fun- 
damental. Pope  Pius  IX.  in  his  Encyclical  Letter  of 
Aug.  15th,  1854,  said:  "The  absurd  and  erroneous 
doctrines  or  ravings  in  defense  of  liberty  of  conscience 
are  a  most  pestilential  error  —  a  pest,  of  all  others, 
most  to  be  dreaded  in  a  state."  The  same  Pope,  in  his 
Encyclical  Letter  of  Dec.  8th,  1864,  anathematized 
"Those  who  assert  the  liberty  of  conscience  and  of 
religious  worship,"  also  "  All  such  as  maintain  that  the 
church  may  not  employ  force." 

The  pacific  tone  of  Kome  in  the  "United  States  does 
not  imply  a  change  of  heart.  She  is  tolerant  where 
she  is  helpless.  Says  Bishop  O'Connor :  "  Eeligious 
liberty  is  merely  endured  until  the  opposite  can  be 
carried  into  effect  without  peril  to  the  Catholic  World." 
The  Catholic  Review  says :  "  Protestantism,  of  every 
form,  has  not,  and  never  can  have,  any  right  where 
Catholicity  is  triumphant."  (A  strange  kind  of  catho- 
licity /)  The  Archbishop  of  St.  Louis  once  said : 
"  Heresy  and  unbelief  are  crimes ;  and  in  Christian 
countries,  as  in  Italy  and  Spain,  for  instance,  where 
all  the  people  are  Catholics,  and  where  the  Catholic  re- 
ligion is  an  essential  part  of  the  law  of  the  land,  they 
are  punished  as  other  crimes."  In  the  same  strain 
The  Boston  Pilot :  "  No  good  government  can  exist 
without  religion,  and  there  can  be  no  religion  without 
an  Inquisition,  which  is  wisely  designed  for  the  pro- 


48  PERILS. ROMANISM. 

motion  and  protection  of  the  true  faith.'7  The  follow- 
ing is  from  The  Rambler,  a  Catholic  paper  of  London  : 
"  Religious  liberty,  in  the  sense  of  a  liberty  possessed 
by  every  man  to  choose  his  religion,  is  one  of  the  most 
wicked  delusions  ever  foisted  upon  this  age  by  the 
father  of  all  deceit.  The  very  name  of  liberty — except 
in  the  sense  of  a  permission  to  do  certain  definite  acts 
— ought  to  be  banished  from  the  domain  of  religion. 
It  is  neither  more  nor  less  than  falsehood.  No  man 
has  a  right  to  choose  his  religion.  None  but  an  atheist 
can  uphold  the  principles  of  religious  liberty.  Shall 
I  foster  that  damnable  doctrine,  that  Socianism,  and 
Calvinism,  and  Anglicanism,  and  Judaism,  are  not 
every  one  of  them  mortal  sins,  like  murder  and  adul- 
tery ?  Shall  I  hold  out  hopes  to  my  erring  Protestant 
brother,  that  I  will  not  meddle  with  his  creed  if  he 
will  not  meddle  with  mine  ?  Shall  I  tempt  him  to  for- 
get that  he  has  no  more  right  to  his  religious  views  than 
he  has  to  my  purse,  to  my  house,  or  to  my  life  blood? 
No,  Catholicism  is  the  most  intolerant  of  creeds.  It 
is  intolerance  itself;  for  it  is  the  truth  itself."  The 
St.  Louis  Shepherd  of  the  Valley  says :  "  The  Catho- 
lic who  says  the  church  is  not  intolerant  belies  the 
Sacred  Spouse  of  Christ."  Every  cardinal,  archbishop 
and  bishop  in  the  Catholic  church  takes  an  oath  of  al- 
legiance to  the  Pope,  in  which  occur  the  following 
words :  "  Heretics,  schismatics,  and  rebels  to  our  said 
Lord  (the  Pope),  or  his  aforesaid  successors,  I  will  to 
my  utmost  persecute  and  oppose."* 

Another  foundation  stone  of  our  free  institutions  is 
free  speech  and  a  free  press.  But  in  his  Encyclical  Let- 
ter of  Dec.  8th,  1864,  Pius  IX.  anathematized  "All  wno 
maintain  the  liberty  of  the  press,"  and  "all  advocates 

*R.  W.  Thompson's  The  Papacy  and  the  Civil  Power,  p.  717. 


PERILS. ROMANISM.  49 

of  the  liberty  of  speech."     He  calls  it  the  "liberty  of 
perdition." 

Again,  free  schools  are  one  of  the  corner-stones  of 
our  Government.  Catholic  opposition  to  our  public- 
school  system  is  general  and  well  known.  Says  a 
Papal  Encyclical :  "  XLY. — The  Komish  church  has 
a  right  to  interfere  in  the  discipline  of  the  public 
schools,  and  in  the  arrangement  of  the  studies  of  the 
public  schools,  and  in  the  choice  of  the  teachers  for 
these  schools." 

"XL VII. — Public  schools  open  to  all  children  for 
the  education  of  the  young  should  be  under  the  con- 
trol of  the  Romish  church,  and  should  not  be  subject 
to  the  civil  power,  nor  made  to  conform  to  the  opinions 
of  the  age." 

Said  the  Vicar-General  of  Boston,  in  a  public  lecture, 
March  12th,  1879:  "The  attitude  of  the  Catholic 
church  toward  the  public  schools  of  this  country,  as 
far  as  we  can  determine  from  papal  documents,  the 
decrees  of  the  Council  of  Baltimore,  and  the  pastor- 
als of  the  several  bishops,  is  one  of  non-approval 
of  the  system  itself,  of  censure  of  the  manner  of  con- 
ducting them  that  prevails  in  most  places,  and  of  sol- 
emn admonition  to  pastors  and  parents  to  guard 
against  the  dangers  to  faith  and  morals  arising  from 
frequenting  them."*  The  attitude  of  the  Catholic 
church  toward  our  schools  is  not  simply  one  of  "non- 
approval,"  but  of  decided  hostility.  Says  the  Cincin- 
nati Catholic  Telegraph :  "  It  will  be  a  glorious  day 
for  the  Catholics  in  this  country  when,  under  the  blows 

*In  St.  Mary's  Parish,  Cambridgeport,  Mass.,  for  attending  a  public  school 
after  Father  Scully  had  commanded  attendance  at  a  parochial  school 
a  boy  was  stretched  upon  a  table,  and  his  back  lashed  till  for  two  weeks 
the  child  could  not  lie  down  on  account  of  his  wounds.  Fate  of  Repub- 
lics, p.  286. 


50  PERILS. ROMANISM. 

of  justice  and  morality,  our  school  system  will  be  shiv- 
ered to  pieces."  I  do  not  forget  that  in  the  dark  ages 
it  was  the  Church  of  Home  which  prevented  the  lamp 
of  learning  from  going  out  utterly,  or  that  the  Jesuits, 
at  a  later  period,  were  the  most  famous  teachers  in 
Europe.  But  Rome  has  never  favored  the  education  of 
the  massesc  In  her  relations  to  them  she  has  adhered 
to  her  own  proverb,  "  Ignorance  is  the  mother  of  de- 
votion." In  Protestant  countries  like  Germany  and 
the  United  States,  where  there  is  a  strong  sentiment 
in  favor  of  popular  education,  she  has  been  compelled 
in  self-defense  to  open  schools  of  her  own.  But  her 
real  attitude  toward  the  education  of  the  masses 
should  be  inferred  from  her  course  in  those  countries 
where  she  has,  or  has  had,  undisputed  sway ;  and  there 
she  has  kept  the  people  in  besotted  ignorance.  In- 
stance her  own  Italy,  where  seventy -three  per  cent,  of 
the  population  are  illiterate,  or  Spain,  where  we  find 
eighty  per  cent.,  or  Mexico,  where  ninety-three  per  cent, 
belong  to  this  class. 

Again,  our  Constitution  requires  obedience  to  the  laws 
of  the  United  States  and  loyalty  to  the  Government. 
The  Pope  also  demands  of  every  subject  obedience  and 
loyalty  to  himself.  In  an  Encyclical  he  says : 

"  XIX. — The  Romish  church  has  a  right  to  exercise 
its  authority  without  any  limits  set  to  it  by  the  civil 
power." 

"XXVII. — The  Pope  and  the  priests  ought  to  have 
dominion  over  the  temporal  affairs." 

"XXX. — The  Romish  church  and  her  ecclesiastics 
have  a  right  to  immunity  from  civil  law." 

"  XLII. — In  case  of  conflict  between  the  ecclesiasti- 
cal and  civil  powers,  the  ecclesiastical  powers  ought  to 
prevail." 


PERILS. ROMANISM.  51 

In  the  oath  of  allegiance,  already  referred  to,  taken 
by  all  whom  the  Pope  elevates  to  positions  of  official 
dignity  the  candidate  swears  he  will  "humbly  receive 
and  diligently  execute    the  apostolic  command,"  and 
that  he  will  "  endeavor  to  preserve,  defend,  increase, 
and  advance,  the  authority  of  the  Pope."  "The  creed  of 
Pope  Pius  IY.  is  put  for  subscription  before  every  priest 
and  every  bishop.     Every  convert  to  Eomanism  must 
signify  his  assent  to  it.     One  of  its  sections   reads,  *  I 
do  give  allegiance  to  the  bishop  of  Eome ' ;  and  the 
sense  is,  'I  do  give  political  as  well  as  religious  alle- 
giance.'"*    The  two  greatest    living  statesmen  hold 
that  the  allegiance  demanded  by  the  Pope  is  inconsist- 
ent with    good    citizenship.       Mr.    Gladstone    says: 
"...     the  Pope  demands  for  himself  the  right  to 
determine  the  province  of  his  own  rights,  and  has  so 
defined  it  in  formal  documents  as  to  warrant  any  and 
every  invasion  of  the  civil  sphere ;  and  that  this  new 
version  of  the  principles  of  the  Papal  church  inexora- 
bly binds  its  members  to  the  admission  of  these  exor- 
bitant claims,  without  any  refuge  or  reservation  on  be- 
half of  their  duty  to  the  Crown."f  He  also  says  :  "Eome 
requires  a  convert,  who  joins  her,  to  forfeit  his  moral 
and  mental  freedom,  and  to  place  his  loyalty  and  civil 
duty  at  the  mercy  of  another."     Prince  Bismarck,  in  a 
speech  delivered  April  16th,  1875,  said :    "     .     .     this 
Pope,  this  foreigner,  this  Italian,  is  more  powerful  in 
this  country  than  any  one  person,  not  excepting  even 
the  King.     And  now  please  to  consider  what  this  for- 
eigner has  announced  as  the  programme  by  which  he 
rules  in  Prussia  as  elsewhere.  He  begins  by  arrogating 
to  himself  the  right  to  define  how  far  his  authority  ex- 
tends.    And  this  Pope,  who  would  use  fire  and  sword 

"Joseph  Cook,  Marriage,  p.  12.  tThe  Vatican  Pecrees,  p.  45, 


52  PEBILS. ROMANISM. 

against  us  if  he  had  the  power  to  do  so,  who  would 
confiscate  our  property  and  not  spare  our  lives,  expects 
us  to  allow  him  full,  uncontrolled  sway  in  our  midst." 
Hon.  R.  "W.  Thompson,  late  Secretary  of  the  Navy, 
says:  "He  who  accepts  Papal  infallibility,  and  with 
it  the  ultramontane  interpretation  of  the  power  of  the 
Pope  over  the  world,  and  thinks  that  by  offending  the 
Pope  he  offends  God,  will  obey,  passively,  unresisting- 
ly, uninquiringly.  Such  a  man,  whether  priest  or 
layman,  high  or  low,  is  necessarily  inimical  to  the  gov- 
ernment and  political  institutions  of  the  United  States ; 
with  him,  his  oath  of  allegiance  is  worth  no  more  than 
the  paper  upon  which  it  is  written." 

At  a  meeting  in  Glasgow,  Oct.  5th,  1875,  Dr.  J.  P. 
Thompson  introduced  the  following  resolution:  "  That, 
in  the  judgment  of  this  Meeting,  the  Papacy,  as  ex- 
emplified in  the  Vatican  Decrees,  is  the  most  perfected 
of  all  existing  forms  of  tyranny,  inasmuch  as  it  aims  at 
placing  in  the  hands  of  a  single  irresponsible  man  the 
conscience  of  individuals,  the  civil  government  of 
nations,  and  the  supreme  control  of  the  spiritual  affairs 
and  temporal  interests  of  the  world."  To  show  that 
this  construction  of  the  Pope's  demands  and  assump- 
tions is  not  unfair,  permit  me  to  quote  some  high  Cath- 
olic authorities.  Bishop  Gilmour  in  his  Lenten  Letter, 
March,  1873,  said:  "Nationalities  must  be  subordi- 
nate to  religion,  and  we  must  learn  that  we  are  Catho- 
lics first  and  citizens  next.  God  is  above  man,  and  the 
church  above  the  state."  Cardinal  McCloskey  says: 
•''They  (the  Catholics  of  the  United  States)  are  as 
strongly  devoted  to  the  sustenance  and  maintenance 
of  the  temporal  power  of  the  Holy  Father  as  Catholics 
in  any  part  of  the  world ;  and  if  it  should  be  necessary 
to  prove  it  by  acts,  they  are  ready  to  do  so."  In  a  ser- 


PEBILS. ROMANISM.  53 

mon,  preached  when  he  was  Archbishop,  Cardinal 
Manning  put  the  following  sentences  in  the  mouth  of 
the  Pope :  "I  acknowledge  no  civil  power ;  I  am  the 
subject  of  no  prince ;  and  I  claim  more  than  this.  I 
claim  to  be  the  supreme  judge  and  director  of  the  con- 
sciences of  men;  of  the  peasant  that  tills  the  fields, 
and  of  the  prince  that  sits  upon  the  throne ;  of  the 
household  that  lives  in  the  shade  of  privacy,  and  the 
legislator  that  makes  laws  for  kingdoms ;  I  am  the 
sole,  last,  supreme  judge  of  what  is  right  and  wrong." 
He  also  says :  "  Moreover,  we  declare,  affirm,  define, 
and  pronounce  it  to  be  necessary  to  salvation  for  every 
human  creature  to  be  subject  to  the  Eoman  Pontiff." 
Of  the  utter  degradation  of  reason,  and  the  stifling  of 
conscience  the  teaching  of  Cardinal  Bellarmine  affords 
a  good  example  :  "  If  the  Pope  should  err  by  enjoin- 
ing vices  or  forbidding  virtues,  the  Church  would  be 
obliged  to  believe  vices  to  be  good  and  virtues  bad,  un- 
less it  would  sin  against  conscience."* 

Manifestly  there  is  an  irreconcilable  difference  be- 
tween papal  principles  and  the  fundamental  principles 
of  our  free  institutions.  Popular  government  is  self- 
government.  A  nation  is  capable  of  self-government 
only  so  far  as  the  individuals  who  compose  it  are 
capable  of  self-government.  To  place  one's  con- 
science, therefore,  in  the  keeping  of  another,  and  to 
disavow  all  personal  responsibility  in  obeying  the 
dictation  of  another,  is  as  far  as  possible  from  self- 
control,  and,  therefore,  wholly  inconsistent  with  repub- 
lican institutions,  and,  if  common,  dangerous  to  their 
stability.  It  is  the  theory  of  absolutism  in  the  state, 
that  man  exists  for  the  state.  It  is  the  theory  of 

*Dr.  Littledale'a  "  Plain  Reasons  Against  Joining  the  Church  of  Rome," 
page  129. 


34  PERILS. ROMANISM. 

absolutism  in  the  church,  that  man  exists  for  the 
church.  But  in  republican  and  Protestant  America 
it  is  believed  that  church  and  state  exist  for  man 
and  are  to  be  administered  by  him.  Our  fundamental 
ideas  of  society,  therefore,  are  as  radically  opposed  to 
Vaticanism  as  to  Imperialism.  And  it  is  as  inconsistent 
with  our  liberties  for  American  citizens  to  yield  allegi- 
ance to  the  Pope  as  to  the  Czar. 

Second.  Our  brief  examination  of  the  underlying 
principles  of  Romanism  almost  renders  superfluous  any 
consideration  of  its  attitude  toward  our  free  institu- 
tions. If  alive,  it  must  necessarily  be  aggressive ;  and 
it  is  alive.  Cardinal  Manning  advises  Romanists 
throughout  the  world  to  enter  politics  as  Romanists, 
and  to  do  this  especially  in  England  and  the  United 
States.  In  our  large  cities  the  priests  are  already  in 
politics,  and  to  some  purpose.  The  authorities  of  New 
York  city,  during  the  eleven  years  preceding  1880  gave 
to  the  Roman  church  real  estate  valued  at  $3,500,000, 
and  money  to  the  amount  of  $5,827,471 ;  this  in  ex- 
change for  Romish  votes,  and  every  cent  of  it  paid  in 
violation  of  law.  This  suggests,  in  passing,  that  the 
Catholic  church  is  storing  up  power  by  amassing  im- 
mense wealth.  Father  Hecker  says  that  the  aggregate 
wealth  of  the  Roman  church  in  the  United  States  in- 
creased from  nine  millions  in  1850  to  twenty-six  mil- 
lions in  1860,  and  to  sixty  millions  in  1870. 

Here  are  some  predictions :  "  There  is  ere  long  to 
be  a  State  religion  in  this  country,  and  that  State  re- 
ligion is  to  be  Roman  Catholic." — Father  Hecker, 
1870.  "  The  man  to-day  is  living  who  will  see  a  ma- 
jority of  the  people  of  the  American  continent  Roman 
Catholics." — Boston  Pilot.  "Effectual  plans  are  in 
operation  to  give  us  the  complete  victory  over  Protest- 


PERILS, ROMANISM.  55 

antism." — A  former  Bishop  of  Cincinnati.  "Within 
thirty  years,  the  Protestant  heresy  will  come  to  an 
end." — Bishop  of  Charleston.  These  utterances  are 
quite  worthless  as  prophecies,  but  are  valuable  as  con- 
fessions. They  indicate  unmistakably  the  attitude  of 
Romanism  in  the  United  States.  There  surely  can  be 
no  question  on  that  point  since  the  open  declaration  of 
the  Pope  that  "America  is  the  hope  of  Rome."  Half 
a  century  ago,  Gregory  XVI.,  who  held  that  "the  sal- 
vation of  the  church  would  come  from  America,"  said: 
"  Out  of  the  Roman  States  there  is  no  country  where  I 
am  Pope,  except  the  United  States." 

Third.  Many  who  are  well  acquainted  with  the  true 
character  of  Romanism  are  indifferent  to  it,  because  not 
aware  of  the  rapid  growth  of  the  Catholic  church  in 
the  United  States.  They  tell  us,  and  truly,  that  Rome 
loses  great  numbers  of  adherents  here  through  the  in- 
fluence of  our  free  schools,  free  institutions,  and  the 
strong  pervasive  spirit  of  independence  which  is  so 
hostile  to  priestly  authority.  But  let  us  not  congratu- 
late ourselves  too  soon.  The  losses  of  Romanism  in 
the  United  States  are  not,  to  any  extent,  the  gains  of 
Protestantism.  When  a  man,  born  in  the  Catholic 
church,  loses  confidence  in  the  only  faith  of  which  he 
has  any  knowledge,  he  does  not  examine  Protestantism, 
but  sinks  into  skepticism.  Romanism  is  chiefly  re- 
sponsible for  German  and  French  infidelity.  For, 
when  a  mind  to  which  thought  and  free  inquiry  have 
been  forbidden  as  a  crime  attains  its  intellectual  ma- 
jority, the  largeness  of  liberty  is  not  enough;  it  reacts 
into  license  and  excess.  Skepticism  and  infidelity  are 
the  legitimate  children  of  unreasoning  and  superstitious 
credulity,  and  the  grandchildren  of  Rome.  Apostate 
Catholics  are  swelling  our  most  dangerous  classes. 


56  PERILS. ROMANISM. 

Unaccustomed  to  think  for  themselves,  and  having 
thrown  off  authority,  they  become  the  easy  victims  of 
socialists  or  nihilists,  or  any  other  wild  and  dangerous 
propagandists. 

But,  notwithstanding  the  great  losses  thus  sustained 
by  Romanism  in  the  United  States,  it  is  growing  with 
great  rapidity.  In  1800  the  Catholic  population  was 
100,000.  In  1884,  according  to  official  statistics,  it  was 
6,628,176.  At  the  beginning  of  the  century  there  was 
one  Catholic  to  every  53  of  the  whole  population ;  i& 
1850,  one  to  14.3 ;  in  1870,  one  to  8.3 ;  in  1880,  one  to 
7.7.  Thus  it  appears  that,  wonderful  as  the  growth  cf 
our  population  has  been  since  1800,  the  growth  of  the 
Catholic  church  has  been  much  more  rapid.  Dr.  Dor- 
chester, in  his  valuable  and  inspiring  work,  Problem  oj 
Religious  Progress,  easily  shows  that  the  actual  gains 
of  Protestantism  in  the  United  States,  during  the  cen^ 
tury,  have  been  much  larger  than  those  of  Catholicism, 
and  seems  disposed,  in  consequence,  to  dismiss  all 
anxiety  as  to  the  issue  of  the  race  between  them.  But 
it  is  the  relative  rather  than  the  actual  gains  which  are 
prophetic.  From  1800  to  1880  the  population  in- 
creased nine-fold,  the  membership  of  all  evangelical 
churches  twenty-seven-fold,  and  the  Catholic  popula- 
tion sixty-three-fold.  Not  much  importance,  however, 
should  be  attached  to  this  comparison,  as  the  Catholic 
population  was  insignificant  in  1800,  and  a  small  ad- 
dition sufficed  to  increase  it  several-fold.  But  in  1850 
the  Catholic  church  was  nearly  one-half  as  large  as  all 
evangelical  Protestant  churches.  Let  us,  then,  look 
at  their  relative  progress  since  that  time.  From  1850 
to  1880  the  population  increased  116  per  cent.,  the 
communicants  of  evangelical  churches  185  per  cent., 
and  the  Catholic  population  294  per  cent.  From  1850 


PERILS. BOMANISM.  57 

to  1880  the  number  of  evangelical  churches  increased 
125  per  cent.;  during  the  same  period  Catholic  churches 
increased  447  per  cent.  From  1870  to  1880  the 
churches  of  all  evangelical  denominations  increased 
49  per  cent.,  while  Catholic  churches  multiplied  74  per 
cent.  From  1870  to  1880  the  ministers  of  evangelical 
churches  increased  in  number  46  per  cent.,  Catholic 
priests  61  per  cent.  From  1850  to  1870,  ministers  in- 
creased 86  per  cent.,  priests  204  per  cent.  From  1850 
to  1880,  ministers  increased  173  per  cent.,  and  priests 
391  per  cent.  In  1850  the  Catholic  population  was 
equal  to  45  per  cent,  of  the  evangelical  church-member* 
ship,  in  1870  it  was  equal  to  68  per  cent.,  and  in  1880 
it  equaled  63  per  cent.,  a  slight  relative  loss.  During 
the  ten  years  Romanism  gained  largely  on  Protestant- 
ism in  the  number  of  churches  and  ministers  ;  but  lost 
slightly  in  the*  number  of  communicants ;  a  loss  due  to 
the- falling  off  of  immigration  during  the  last  half  of 
the  period.  Examination  shows  that  the  growth  of 
the  Catholic  church  corresponds  closely  with  that  of 
the  foreign  population,  but  is  somewhat  more  rapid. 
Since  1880  there  has  been  a  marked  increase  in  the 
Catholic  population.  The  average  annual  growth  of 
the  latter  from  1870  to  1880  was  176,733,  while  from 
1883  to  1884  it  was  231,322. 

It  has  been  shown  that  during  the  remainder  of  the 
century  or  longer,  the  rate  of  immigration  will  un- 
doubtedly increase.  The  ratio  of  growth  of  the  Cath- 
olic church  will,  therefore,  increase,  and  it  will  con- 
tinue to  make  a  rapid  gain  on  the  Protestant  denomina- 
tions. But  this  is  not  all.  Rome,  with  characteristic 
foresight,  is  concentrating  her  strength  in  the  western 
territories.  As  the  West  is  to  dominate  the  nation,  she 
intends  to  dominate  the  West.  In  the  United  States  a 


58  PERILS. — ROMANISM. 

little  less  than  one-eighth  of  the  population  is  Catho- 
lic ;  in  the  territories  taken  together,  more  than  one- 
third.  In  the  whole  country  there  are  not  quite  two- 
thirds  as  many  Catholics  as  there  are  members  of 
evangelical  churches.  Not  including  Arizona  and  New 
Mexico,  which  have  a  large  native  Catholic  population, 
the  six  remaining  territories  had  in  1880  four  times  as 
many  Romanists  as  there  were  members  in  all  Protes- 
tant denominations  collectively ;  and,  including  Arizona 
and  New  Mexico,  Rome  had  eighteen  times  as  many  as 
all  Protestant  bodies.  We  are  told  that  the  native 
Catholics  of  Arizona  and  New  Mexico  are  not  as  ener- 
getic as  the  Protestants  who  are  pushing  into  those 
territories.  True,  but  they  are  energetic  enough  to  be 
counted.  The  most  wretched  members  of  society  count 
as  much  at  the  polls  as  the  best,  and  too  often  much 
more.  It  is  poor  consolation  which  is  drawn  from  the 
ignorance  of  any  portion  of  our  population.  Those  de- 
graded peoples  are  clay  in  the  hands  of  the  Jesuits. 
When  the  Jesuits  were  driven  out  of  Berlin,  they  de- 
clared that  they  would  plant  themselves  in  the  western 
territories  of  America.  And  they  are  there  to-day  with 
empires  in  their  brains.  Expelled  for  their  intrigues 
even  from  Catholic  countries,  Spain,  Portugal,  Italy, 
Mexico,  Brazil,  and  other  states,  they  are  free  to  colon- 
ize in  the  great  West,  and  are  there  gathering  and 
plotting  to  Romanize  and  control  our  western  empire. 
Rev.  J.  H.  Warren,  D.D.,  writes  from  California,  in 
which  state  there  are  four  times  as  many  Romanists  as 
Protestant  church-members:  "The  Roman  Catholic 
power  is  fast  becoming  an  overwhelming  evil.  Their 
schools  are  everywhere,  and  number  probably  200  in  the 
state.  Their  new  college  of  St.  Ignatius  is,  we  are 
told,  the  largest,  finest,  best  equipped  of  its  kind  in  the 


PEKILS. MOBMONISM.  59 

United  States.  They  blow  no  trumpets,  are  sparing 
with  statistics,  but  are  at  work  night  and  day  to  break 
down  the  institutions  of  the  country,  beginning  with  the 
public  schools.  As  surely  as  ws  live,  so  surely  will  tho 
conflict  come,  and  it  will  be  a  hard  one."* 

Lafayette,  himself  a  Romanist,  was  not  wholly  bliftd 
when  he  said :  "If  the  liberties  of  the  American  peo- 
ple are  ever  destroyed,  they  will  fall  by  the 
the  Romish  clergy." 


CHAPTER  YL 

PERILS. MOBMONISM. 

THE  people  of  the  United  States  are  more  sensible 
of  the  disgrace  of  Mormonism  than  of  its  danger. 
The  civilized  world  wonders  that  such  a  hideous  cari- 
cature of  the  Christian  religion  should  have  appeared 
in  this  most  enlightened  land ;  that  such  an  anachro- 
nism should  have  been  produced  by  the  most  progress- 
ive civilization;  that  the  people  who  most  honor 
womankind  should  be  the  ones  to  inflict  on  her  this 
deep  humiliation  and  outrageous  wrong.  Polygamy, 
as  the  most  striking  feature  of  the  Mormon  monster, 
attracts  the  public  eye.  It  is  this  which  at  the  same 
time  arouses  interest  and  indignation;  and  it  is  be- 
cause of  this  that  Europe  points  at  us  the  finger  of 
shame.  Polygamy  is  the  issue  between  the  Mormons 

*  Sermon  of  Rev.  E.  P.  Goodwin,  D.D.,  before  the  American  Home  Mis- 
sionary Society,  May  9tn,  1880, 


60  PERILS. MORMONISM. 

and  the  United  States  government.  It  is  this  which 
prevents  Utah's  being  admitted  as  a  state.  It  is  this 
against  which  congress  has  legislated.  And  yet, 
polygamy  is  not  an  essential  part  of  Mormonism;  it 
was  an  after-thought ;  not  a  root,  but  a  graft.  There 
is  a  large  and  growing  sect  of  the  Mormons,*  not  lo- 
cated in  Utah,  which  would  excommunicate  a  member 
for  practicing  it.  Nor  is  polygamy  a  very  large  part 
of  Mormonism.  Not  more  than  one  man  in  ten  prac- 
tices it.  Moreover,  it  can  never  become  general  among 
the  "  saints,"  for  nature  has  legislated  on  that  point, 
and  her  laws  admit  of  no  evasions.  In  Utah,  as  else- 
where, there  are  more  males  born  than  females ;  and, 
in  the  membership  of  the  Mormon  church,  there  are 
some  6,000  more  men  than  women. 

Polygamy  might  be  utterly  destroyed,  without  seri- 
ously weakening  Mormonism.  It  serves  to  strengthen 
the  system  somewhat  by  thoroughly  entangling  its  vic- 
tim in  the  Mormon  net ;  for  a  polygamist  is  not  apt  to 
apostatize.  He  has  multiplied  his  "hostages  to  for- 
tune"; he  cannot  abandon  helpless  wives  and  children 
as  easily  as  he  might  turn  away  from  pernicious  doc- 
trines. Moreover,  he  has  arrayed  himself  against  the 
government  with  law-breakers.  Franklin's  saying  to 
the  signers  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence  is  ap- 
propriately put  into  the  mouths  of  this  class:  "If  we 
don't  hang  together,  we  shall  all  hang  separately." 
Still,  it  may  be  questioned  whether  polygamy  adds 
more  of  strength  or  weakness;  for  its  evil  results 
doubtless  often  lead  the  children  of  such  marriages,  and 
many  others,  to  question  the  faith,  and  finally  abandon 
it. 

*  The  Josephites,  scattered  through  the  United  States,  are  law-abiding 
citizens,  deluded,  but  inoffensive. 


PERILS. — MORMONISM.  61 

What,  then,  is  the  real  strength  of  Mormonism  ?  It 
is  ecclesiastical  despotism  which  holds  it  together, 
unifies  it,  and  makes  it  strong.  The  Mormon  church 
is  probably  the  most  complete  organization  in  the 
world.  To  look  after  a  Mormon  population  of  138S000, 
there  are  28,838  officials,  or  more  than  one  to  every  five 
persons.  And,  so  highly  centralized  is  the  power,  that 
all  of  these  threads  of  authority  are  gathered  into  one 
hand,  that  of  President  Taylor.  The  priesthood,  of 
which  he  is  the  head,  claim  the  right  to  control  in  all 
things  religious,  social,  industrial  and  political.  Brig- 
ham  Young  asserted  his  right  to  manage  in  every  par- 
ticular, "  from  the  setting  up  of  a  stocking  to  the  rib- 
bons on  a  woman's  bonnet."  Here  is  a  claim  to  abso- 
lute and  universal  rule,  which  is  cheerfully  conceded  by 
every  orthodox  "  saint."  Mormonism,  therefore,  is  not 
simply  a  church,  but  a  state ;  an  "  imperium  in  im- 
perio"  ruled  by  a  man  who  is  prophet,  priest,  king  and 
pope,  all  in  one — a  pope,  too,  who  is  not  one  whit  less 
infallible  than  he  who  wears  the  tiara.  And,  as  one 
would  naturally  expect  of  an  American  pope,  and 
especially  of  an  enterprising  western  pope,  he  out- 
popes  the  Eoman  by  holding  familiar  conversation 
with  the  Almighty,  and  getting,  to  order,  new  revela- 
tions direct  from  heaven;  and,  another  advantage 
which  is  more  material,  he  keeps  a  firm  hold  of  his 
temporal  power.  Indeed,  it  looks  as  if  the  spiritual 
were  being  subordinated  to  the  temporal.  Rev.  W. 
M.  Barrows,  D.D.,  after  a  residence  at  the  Mormon 
capital  of  nearly  eight  years,  said ':*  "  There  is  no 
doubt  that  it  is  becoming  less  and  less  a  religious 
power,  and  more  and  more  a  political  power.  The 

*  Address  at  the  Home  Missionary  Anniversary,  in  Chicago,  June  8ta,  1881. 


. — MORMONISM. 

first  Mormon  preachers  were  ignorant  fanatics;  but 
most  of  them  were  honest,  and  their  woids  carried  a 
weight  that  sincerity  always  carries,  even  in  a  bad 
cause.  The  preachers  now  have  the  ravings  of  the 
Sibyl,  but  lack  the  inspiration.  Their  talk  sounds 
hollow ;  the  ring  of  sincerity  is  gone.  But  their  eyes 
are  dazzled  now  with  the  vision  of  an  earthly  empire. 
They  have  gone  back  to  the  old  Jewish  idea  of  a  tem- 
poral kingdom,  and  they  are  endeavoring  to  set  up 
such  a  kingdom  in  the  valleys  of  Utah  and  Idaho  and 
Montana,  Wyoming,  Colorado  and  New  Mexico,  Ari- 
zona and  Nevada." 

If  there  be  any  doubt  as  to  the  designs  of  the  Mor- 
mons, let  the  testimony  of  Bishop  Lunt  be  conclusive 
on  that  point.  He  said,  a  few  years  ago:  "Like  a 
grain  of  mustard- seed  was  the  truth  planted  in  Zion; 
and  it  is  destined  to  spread  through  all  the  world. 
Our  church  has  been  organized  only  fifty  years,  and  yet 
behold  its  wealth  and  power.  This  is  our  year  of  jubi- 
lee. We  look  forward  with  perfect  confidence  to  the 
day  when  we  will  hold  the  reins  of  the  United  States 
government.  That  is  our  present  temporal  aim ;  after 
that,  we  expect  to  control  the  continent."  When  told 
that  such  a  scheme  seemed  rather  visionary,  in  view  of 
the  fact  that  Utah  cannot  gain  recognition  as  a  state, 
the  Bishop  replied:  "Do  not  be  deceived;  we  are 
looking  after  that.  We  do  not  care  for  these  terri- 
torial officials  sent  out  to  govern  us.  They  are  no- 
bodies here.  We  do  not  recognize  them,  neither  do 
we  fear  any  practical  interference  by  congress.  We 
intend  to  have  Utah  recognized  as  a  state.  To-day 
we  hold  the  balance  of  political  power  in  Idaho,  we 
rule  Utah  absolutely,  and  in  a  very  short  time  we  will 
hold  the  balance  of  power  in  Arizona  and  Wyoming. 


PERILS.— MORMONISM.  63 

A  few  months  ago,  President  Snow,  of  St.  George,  set 
out  with  a  band  of  priests,  for  an  extensive  tour 
through  Colorado,  New  Mexico,  Wyoming,  Montana, 
Idaho  and  Arizona,  to  proselyte.  We  also  expect  to 
send  missionaries  to  some  parts  of  Nevada,  and  we  de- 
sign to  plant  colonies  in  Washington  Territory. 

"In  the  past  six  months  we  have  sent  more  than 
3,000  of  our  people  down  through  the  Sevier  valley  to 
settle  in  Arizona,  and  the  movement  still  progresses. 
All  this  will  build  up  for  us  a  political  power,  which 
will,  in  time,  compel  the  homage  of  the  demagogues  of 
the  country.  Our  vote  is  solid,  and  will  remain  so. 
It  will  be  thrown  where  the  most  good  will  be  accom- 
plished for  the  church.  Then,  in  some  great  political 
crisis,  the  two  present  political  parties  will  bid  for  our 
support.  Utah  will  then  be  admitted  as  a  polygamous 
state,  and  the  other  territories  we  have  peacefully 
subjugated  will  be  admitted  also.  We  will  then  hold 
the  balance  of  power,  and  will  dictate  to  the  country. 
In  time,  our  principles,  which  are  of  sacred  origin,  will 
spread  throughout  the  United  States.  We  possess  the 
ability  to  turn  the  political  scale  in  any  particular  com- 
munity we  desire.  Our  people  are  obedient.  When 
they  are  called  by  the  church,  they  promptly  obey. 
They  sell  their  houses,  lands  and  stock,  and  remove  to 
any  part  of  the  country  the  church  may  direct  them  to. 
You  can  imagine  the  results  which  wisdom  may  bring 
about,  with  the  assistance  of  a  church  organization 
like  ours." 

The  astute  bishop  does  not  over-estimate  the  effect- 
iveness of  the  Mormon  church  as  a  colonizer.  An 
order  is  issued  by  the  authorities  that  a  certain  dis- 
trict shall  furnish  so  many  hundred  emigrants  for  Ari- 
zona or  Idaho.  The  families  <,re  drafted,  so  many 


64  PEBILS. MORMONISM. 

from  a  ward ;  and  each  ward  or  district  equips  its  own 
quota  with  wagons,  animals,  provisions,  implements, 
seed  and  the  like.  Thus  the  Mormon  president  can 
mass  voters  here  or  there  about  as  easily  as  a  general 
can  move  his  troops. 

By  means  of  this  systematic  colonization  the  Mor- 
mons have  gained  possession  of  vast  tracts  of  land, 
Jtnd  now  "  hold  almost  all  the  soil  fit  for  agriculture 
from  the  Rocky  Mountains  to  the  Sierra  Nevada,  or  an 
area  not  less  than  500  miles  by  700,  making  350,000 
square  miles'';*  that  is,  one-sixth  of  the  entire  acreage 
between  the  Mississippi  and  Alaska.  In  this  extended 
region  it  is  designed  to  plant  a  Mormon  population 
sufficiently  numerous  to  control  it.  With  this  in  view, 
the  church  sends  out  from  200  to  400  missionaries  a 
year,  most  of  whom  labor  in  Europe.  They  generally 
return  after  two  years  of  service  at  their  own  charges. 
If  any  of  the  converts  are  too  poor  to  reach  "  Zion" 
unaided,  they  are  assisted  by  loans  from  the  "  Perpet- 
ual Emigration  Fund,"  founded  in  1849.  The  number 
of  proselytes  from  the  Old  "World  is  steadily  increas- 
ing. During  the  first  ten  years  after  the  founding  of 
the  emigration  fund  the  annual  average  was  750,  for 
the  next  decade  it  was  2,000,  for  the  last  five  years  the 
number  has  ranged  from  2,500  to  3,000.  The  losses 
by  apostasy  f  are  many,  but  are  more  than  covered  by 

*  Rev.  D.  L.  Leonard^  Home  Missionary  Superintendent  for  "Utah,  Idaho, 
Montana  and  West  Wyoming. 

t  We  may  learn  ere  long  that  there  is  as  little  occasion  for  congratulation 
over  Mormon  apostasy  as  over  Eoman  Catholic.  The  Mormon,  in  his  mental 
make-up,  is  a  distinct  type.  There  are  men  in  every  community  who  were 
born  for  the  Mormon  church.  Let  ono  of  the  missionaries  of  the  "  Saints" 
appear,  and  he  attracts  this  class  as  naturally  as  a  magnet  attracts  iron  fil- 
ings in  a  handful  of  sand.  They  are  waiting  to  hear  and  believe  some  new 
thing ;  they  are  driven  about  by  every  wind  of  doctrine ;  they  have  probably 
been  members  of  several  different  religious  denominations ;  tk«y  are  credu- 


PEEILS. — -MORMONISM.  65 

the  number  of  converts,  while  the  natural  increase  of 
the  church  by  the  growth  of  the  family  is  exceedingly 
large.  Furthermore,  to  the  growing  power  of  multi- 
plying numbers  is  added  that  of  rapidly  increasing 
wealth.  The  Mormons  are  industrious — a  lazy  man 
cannot  enter  their  heaven — and  the  tithing  of  the  in- 
crease adds  constantly  to  the  vast  sums  already 
gathered  in  the  grasping  hands  of  the  hierarchy.  The 
Mormon  delegate  to  Congress,  who  carries  a  hundred 
thousand  votes  in  one  hand,  and  millions  of  corruption 
money  in  the  other,  will  prove  a  dangerous  man  in 
Washington,  unless  politicians  grow  strangely  virtu- 
ous, and  there  are  fewer  itching  palms  twenty  years 
hence. 

Bishop  Lunt  is  not  altogether  alone  in  the  anticipa- 
tions quoted  above.  Hon.  Schuyler  Coif  ax  says:* 
"  With  Utah  overwhelmingly  dominated  by  the  Mor- 
mon Theocracy  of  their  established  church,  and  wield- 
ing, also,  as  they  already  claim,  the  balance  of  power 
in  the  adjoining  territories,  this  Turkish  barbarism 
may  control  the  half-dozen  new  states  of  our  Interior, 
and,  by  the  power  of  their  Senators  and  Representa- 
tives, in  both  branches  of  our  Congress,  may  even  dic- 
tate to  the  nation  itself."  Those  best  acquainted  with 
Mormonism  seem  most  sensible  of  the  danger  which  it 
threatens.  The  pastors  of  churches  and  principals  of 
schools  in  Salt  Lake  City,  in  an  address  to  American 
citizens,  say  :f  "We  recognize  the  fact  that  the  so-called 

lous  and  superstitious,  and  are  easily  led  in  the  direction  of  their  inclina- 
tions ;  they  love  reasoning,  but  hate  reason ;  they  are  capable  of  a  blind  de- 
votion, and  strongly  incline  to  fanaticism.  In  a  word,  they  are  cranky.  A 
Church  largely  made  up  of  such  material  will,  of  course,  multiply  apostates. 
The  Mormon  church  is  a  machine  which  manufactures  tinder  for  socialistic 
fire. 

*  The  Advance,  Aug.  24th,  1882. 

t  Hand-book  of  Mormonism,  p.  94. 


66  PERILS. MORMONISM. 

Mormon  Church,  in  its  exercise  of  political  power,  is 
antagonistical  to  American  institutions,  and  that  there 
is  an  irrepressible  conflict  between  Utah  Mormonism  and 
American  republicanism;  so  much  so  that  they  can 
never  abide  together  in  harmony.  We  also  believe 
that  the  growth  of  this  anti-republican  power  is  such 
that,  if  not  checked  speedily,  it  will  cause  serious 
trouble  in  the  near  future.  "We  fear  that  the  nature 
and  extent  of  this  danger  are  not  fully  comprehended 
by  the  nation  at  large." 

If  the  Mormon  power  had  its  seat  in  an  established 
commonwealth  like  Ohio,  such  an  ignorant  and  fanat- 
ical population,  rapidly  increasing,  and  under  the  abso- 
lute control  of  unscrupulous  leaders,  who  openly 
avowed  their  hostility  to  the  state,  and  lived  in  con- 
temptuous violation  of  its  laws,  would  be  a  disturbing 
element  which  would  certainly  endanger  the  peace  of 
society.  Indeed,  the  Mormons,  when  much  less  pow- 
erful than  they  are  to-day,  could  not  be  tolerated  in 
Missouri  or  Illinois.  And  Mormonism  is  ten-fold  more 
dangerous  in  the  new  West,  where  its  power  is  greater, 
because  the  "  Gentile"  population  is  less ;  where  it  has 
abundant  room  to  expand ;  where,  in  a  new  and  unor- 
ganized society,  its  complete  organization  is  the  more 
easily  master  of  the  situation ;  and  where  state  consti- 
tutions and  laws,  yet  unformed,  and  the  institutions  of 
society,  yet  plastic,  are  subject  to  its  molding  influ- 
ence. 

And  what  are  we  going  to  do  about  it  ?  Thus  far, 
legislation  against  polygamy  has  accomplished  but  lit- 
tie.  Each  new  law  has  been  "answered"  by  an  in- 
creased number  of  polygamous  marriages.  Happily 
there  have  been  some  convictions  of  late;  but  it  is 
always  difficult  to  convict  criminals  by  a  jury  where 


PEKILS. — MORMOKtSM.  67 

public  sentiment  is  against  the  law  which  has  been  vio- 
lated. Nevertheless,  something  can  be  done  by  legis- 
lation. Where  the  dignity  of  the  law  is  held  in  con- 
tempt there  must  be  found  some  way  to  make  the  arm 
of  the  law  felt.*  But  we  have  seen  that,  if  polygamy 
were  entirely  suppressed,  it  might  not  seriously  cripple 
the  power  of  Mormonism.  Any  blow  to  be  effective 
must  be  aimed  at  the  priestly  despotism.  The  power 
of  the  hierarchy  is  enhanced  by  the  great  wealth  of 
the  church.  The  sequestration  of  that  wealth,  there- 
fore, would,  in  some  measure,  disable  the  hierarchy. 
"Senator  Hoar  proposes  that  a  commission  be  ap- 
pointed to  take  over  the  property  of  the  organization 
called  the  Mormon  church,  and  to  apply  to  the  pur- 
poses of  supporting  common  schools  in  this  polyg- 
amous territory  the  funds  which  have  been  collected 
contrary  to  law,  and  in  excess  of  authority,  in  the 
Mormon  Endowment  Houses,  "f  The  proposition  was 
approved  by  the  judiciary  committee  of  the  Senate. 
But  the  power  of  the  priesthood  existed  before  that 
wealth  was  accumulated.  It  was  their  power  which 
made  that  accumulation  possible.  The  proposed  blow, 
therefore,  though  it  might  be  helpful,  would  not  go  to 
the  root  of  the  matter.  Belief  in  the  divine  inspira- 
tion, and  hence  infallibility  of  the  priesthood,  is  the  se- 
cret power  of  the  system,  and  a  veritable  Pandora's 
box  out  of  which  may  spring  any  possible  delusion  or 
excess.  Said  Heber  C.  Kimball,  formerly  one  of  the 
Apostles :  "  The  word  of  our  Leader  and  Prophet  is  the 
word  of  God  to  this  people.  "We  cannot  see  God.  We 
cannot  hold  converse  with  him.  But  he  has  given  us  a 

*  For  some  valuable  suggestions  on  this  point  see  "  How  Shall  the  Mor- 
mon Question  be  Settled?"  From  an  address  by  Dr.  Barrows  at  the  Home 
Missionary  Anniversary,  in  Chicago,  June  8th,  1881. 

t  Josepn  Cook,  Lecture,  "  What  Shall  be  Done  with  Mormonism  ?" 


68  PERILS. MORMOWISM. 

man  that  we  can  talk  to  and  thereby  know  his  will, 
just  as  well  as  if  God  himself  were  present  with  us." 
Special  "revelations"  to  the  head  of  the  church,  even 
if  directly  contrary  to  the  Scriptures,  or  the  Book  of 
Mormon,  are  absolutely  binding.  The  latter  says:* 
"Wherefore  I,  the  Lord  God,  will  not  suffer  that  this 
people  do  like  unto  them  of  old ;  wherefore,  my  breth- 
ren, hear  me,  and  hearken  to  the  word  of  the  Lord. 
For  there  shall  not  any  man  among  you  have  save  it 
be  one  wife ;  and  concubines  he  shall  have  none."  Yet 
a  special  "  revelation'"  sufficed  to  establish  polygamy. 
Mormon  despotism,  then,  has  its  roots  in  the  supersti- 
tion of  the  people ;  and  this  Congress  cannot  legislate 
away.  The  people  must  be  elevated  and  enlightened 
through  the  instrumentality  of  the  Christian  school 
and  the  preaching  of  the  gospel.  This  work  is  being 
effectively  done  by  the  New  West  Education  Commis- 
sion and  the  American  Home  Missionary  Society.  It 
is  chiefly  to  such  agencies  that  we  must  look  to  break 
the  Mormon  power. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

PERILS. INTEMPEEANCE. 


To  touch  so  vast  a  subject,  and  only  touch  it,  is  diffi- 
cult. Let  us  consider  briefly  but  two  points — the  dan- 
ger of  intemperance  as  enhanced  by  the  progress  of 
civilization,  and  the  Liquor  Power.  I.  The  progress 


*  Book  of  Jacob,  Chap.  II,  verse  6. 


PEKILS. INTEMPERANCE.  69 

of  civilization  brings  men  into  closer  contact.  The 
three  great  civilizing  instrumentalities  of  the  age, 
moral,  mental  and  material,  are  Christianity,  the  press 
and  steam,  which  respectively  bring  together  men's 
hearts,  minds  and  bodies  into  more  intimate  and  mul- 
tiplied relations.  Christianity  is  slowly  binding  the 
race  into  a  brotherhood.  The  press  transforms  the 
earth  into  an  audience  room ;  while  the  steam  engine, 
so  far  as  commerce  is  concerned,  has  annihilated,  say, 
nine-tenths  of  space. 

Observe  how  this  bringing  of  men  into  closer  and 
multiplied  relations  has  served  to  increase  the  excite- 
ments of  life,  to  quicken  our  rate  of  living.  The  Chris- 
tian religion  is  an  excitant.  In  proportion  as  it  leads 
men  to  recognize  and  accept  their  responsibility  for 
others,  it  arouses  them  to  action  in  their  behalf,  under 
the  stress  of  the  most  urgent  motives.  The  press  and 
telegraph,  by  bringing  many  minds  into  contact,  have 
ministered  marvelously  to  the  activity  of  the  popular 
intellect.  Isolation  tends  to  stagnation.  Intercourse 
quickens  thought,  feeling,  action.  Steam  has  stimulat- 
ed human  activity  almost  to  a  fury.  By  prodigiously 
lengthening  the  lever  of  human  power,  by  bringing 
the  country  to  the  city,  the  inland  cities  to  the  sea- 
board, the  seaports  to  each  other,  it  has  multiplied 
many-fold  every  form  of  intercourse.  By  establishing 
industries  on  an  immense  scale  it  has  greatly  compli- 
cated business ;  while  severe  and  increasing  competi- 
tion demands  closer  study,  a  greater  application  of 
energy,  a  larger  expenditure  of  mental  power. 

Thus  it  would  seem  that  these  three  great  forces  of 
civilization  move  along  parallel  lines,  and  co-operate  in 
stimulating  the  nations  to  an  activity  ever  more  in- 
tense and  exciting ;  so  that  the  progress  of  civilization 


70  MJBtLS. 

seems  to  involve  an  increasing  strain  on  the  nervous 
system.  These  influences  will  be  better  appreciated  if 
we  compare,  for  a  moment,  ancient  and  modern  civiliza- 
tion. Look  at  life  in  Athens,  Jerusalem  or  Babylon, 
when  they  were  centers  of  civilization,  as  compared 
with  Paris,  London,  or  New  York.  The  chief  men  of 
an  Oriental  city  might  be  found  sitting  in  the  gate 
gossiping,  or  possibly  philosophizing.  Those  of  an  Oc- 
cidental metropolis  are  deep  in  schemes  of  commerce, 
manufacture,  politics  or  philanthropy,  weaving  plans 
whose  threads  reach  out  through  all  the  land,  and  even 
to  the  ends  of  the  earth.  The  Eastern  merchant  sits 
in  his  bazaar,  as  did  his  ancestor  two  or  three  thousand 
years  ago,  and  chaffers  with  his  customers  by  the  hour 
over  a  trifle.  The  "Western  and  modern  business  man 
is  on  his  feet.  The  two  attitudes  are  representative. 
Ancient  civilization  was  sedentary  and  contemplative ; 
ours  is  active  and  practical.  "  Multum  inparvo  "  is  its 
maxim.  Immense  results  brought  about  in  a  few  days, 
or  even  minutes,  hurry  the  mind  through  a  wide  range 
of  experience,  and  compress,  it  may  be,  years  into 
hours.  I  am  not  at  all  sure  that  Abraham  Lincoln  did 
not  live  longer  than  Methuselah.  In  point  of  experi- 
ence, results,  acquisitions,  enjoyment  and  sorrow — in 
all  that  makes  up  life,  save  the  mere  factor  of  time — I 
am.  not  at  all  sure  that  the  antediluvians  were  not  the 
children,  and  the  men  of  this  generation  the  aged  pa- 
triarchs. And  life  is  fuller  and  more  intense,  activity 
is  more  eager  and  restless  here  in  the  United  States 
than  anywhere  else  in  the  world.  We  work  more  days 
in  a  year,  more  hours  in  a  day,  and  do  more  work  in  an 
hour  than  the  most  active  people  of  Europe.* 

*  These  statements  could  be  abundantly  confirmed,  but  it  is  presumed 
they  will  not  be  doubted.  The  point  will  be  further  developed  in  a  later 
chapter. 


PEEILS. INTEMPEBANCE.  71 

If  we  were  quite  unacquainted  with  the  results 
of  this  feverish  activity  of  modern  civilization,  and 
especially  of  American  civilization,  reason  would  en- 
able us  to  anticipate  those  results.  Such  excitements, 
such  restless  energy,  such  continued  stress  of  the 
nerves,  must,  in  course  of  a  few  generations,  decidedly 
change  the  nervous  organization  of  men.  We  know 
that  the  progress  of  civilization  has  refined  tempera- 
ments, has  rendered  men  more  susceptible  and  sensi- 
tive. A  tragedy  that  is  a  nine  days'  horror  with  us 
would  hardly  have  attracted  more  than  a  passing  glance 
in  old  Eome,  whose  gentle  matrons  made  a  holiday  by 
attending  gladiatorial  shows,  and  seeing  men  kill  each 
other  for  Roman  sport  at  the  rate  of  10,000  in  a  single 
reign.  And  when  brothers  met  in  the  arena,  and  lacked 
the  nerve  to  strike  each  other  down,  red-hot  irons  were 
pressed  against  their  naked,  quivering  flesh  to  goad 
them  on,  while  these  same  mothers  shouted:  "  Kill !" 
We  complain  sometimes  that  modern  life  has  become 
too  largely  one  of  feeling.  It  is  true  the  many  live 
lives  of  impulse,  rather  than  of  principle  ;  but  it  is  also 
true  that  the  springs  of  human  sympathy  were  never 
so  easily  touched  as  now.  Such  wide  differences  in 
men's  sensibilities  argue  not  only  a  difference  of  -edu- 
cation, but  a  change  in  the  world's  nerves.* 

Physicians  tell  us  that  going  from  the  equator  north, 
and  from  the  arctic  regions  south,  nervous  disorders 
increase  until  a  climax  is  reached  in  the  temperate 
zone.  An  eminent  physician  of  New  York,  the  late  Dr. 
George  M.  Beard,  who  has  made  nervous  diseases  a 
specialty,  says  that  they  are  comparatively  rare  in 

*  Since  writing  the  above,  I  find  the  following  sentence  in  Dr.  Geo-  M. 
Beard's  American  Nervousness,  p.  118:  "Fineness  of  organization,  wb^ch 
is  essential  to  the  development  of  the  civilization -of  modern  times,  i»  %r> 
eompanied  by  intensified  mental  susceptibility." 


72  PEBILS. INTEMPERANCE. 

Spain,  Italy  and  the  northern  portions  of  Europe,  also 
in  Canada  and  the  Gulf  States,  but  very  common  in 
our  Northern  States  and  in  Central  Europe.  And  this 
belt,  it  will  be  observed,  coincides  exactly  with  the  zone 
of  the  world's  greatest  activity;  and  further,  where 
this  activity  is  greatest ;  viz.,  in  the  United  States, 
these  nervous  disorders  are  the  most  frequent.  Dr. 
Beard  begins  an  exceedingly  interesting  work*  on  nerv- 
ous exhaustion  with  these  sentences:  "There  is  a 
large  family  of  functional  nervous  disorders  that  are 
increasingly  frequent  among  the  indoor  classes  of  civ- 
ilized countries,  and  that  are  especially  frequent  in  the 
northern  and  eastern  parts  of  the  United  -States.  The 
sufferers  from  these  maladies  are  counted  in  this  coun- 
try by  thousands  and  hundred  of  thousands ;  in  all  the 
Northern  and  Eastern  States  they  are  found  in  nearly 
every  brain- working  household."  After  speaking  of 
certain  numerous  and  wide-spread  nervous  diseases 
among  us,  he  adds :  "  In  Europe  these  affections  are 
but  little  known."  They  are  all  diseases  of  civilization, 
and  of  modern  civilization,  and  mainly  of  the  nineteenth 
century,  and  of  the  United  States.  "Neurasthenia," 
which  is  the  name  he  gives  to  nervous  exhaustion, 
"is,"  he  says,  "comparatively  a  modern  disease,  its 
symptoms  surprisingly  more  frequent  now  than  in  the 
last  century ;  and  is  an  American  disease,  in  this,  that 
it  is  very  much  more  common  here  than  in  any  other 
part  of  the  civilized  world." 

When  we  consider  that  the  increased  activity  of  modern 
civilization  is  attended  by  new  and  increasing  nervous 
disorders,  that  the  belt  of  prevalent  nervous  diseases 
coincides  exactly  with  that  of  the  world's  greatest  activ- 
ity, and,  further,  that  in  this  belt,  where  the  activity  is 

*  Entitled  Neurasthenia, 


PERILS. — INTEMPERANCE.  73 

by  far  the  most  intense,  nervous  affections  are  by  far 
the  most  common,  it  is  evident  that  the  intensity  of 
modern  life  has  already  worked,  and  continues  to  work, 
important  changes  in  men's  nervous  organization.  The 
American  people  are  rapidly  becoming  the  most  nervous, 
the  most  highly  organized,  in  the  world,  if,  indeed, 
they  are  not  already  such.  And  the  causes,  climatic 
and  other,  which  have  produced  this  result,  continue 
operative. 

Be  it  observed  now  that  nervous  people  are  exposed 
to  a  double  danger  from  intoxicating  liquors.  In  the 
first  place,  they  are  more  likely  than  others  to  desire 
stimulants.  Says  Dr.  Beard:  "When  the  nervous  sys- 
tem loses,  through  any  cause,  much  of  its  nervous 
force,  so  that  it  cannot  stand  upright  with  ease  and 
comfort,  it  leans  on  the  nearest  and  most  convenient 
artificial  support  that  is  capable  of  temporarily  prop- 
ping up  the  enfeebled  frame.  Anything  that  gives 
ease,  sedation,  oblivion,  such  as  chloral,  chloroform, 
opium  or  alcohol,  may  be  resorted  to  at  first  as  an  in- 
cident, and  finally  as  a  habit.  Such  is  the  philosophy 
of  opium  and  alcohol  inebriety.  Not  only  for  the  re- 
lief of  pain,  but  for  the  relief  of  exhaustion,  deeper 
and  more  distressing  than  pain,  do  both  men  and 
women  resort  to  the  drug  shop.  I  count  this  one  of 
the  great  causes  of  the  recent  increase  of  opium*  and 
alcohol  inebriety  among  women." 

As  a  nation  grows  more  nervous,  its  use  of  in- 
toxicating liquors  increases.  In  Great  Britain,  Bel- 
gium, Holland  and  Germany,  which  are  the  European 
countries  lying  in  the  nervous  belt,  there  has  been  a 

*  There  were  imported  into  the  United  States  in  1869,  90,99T  pounds  o/ 
opium ;  in  1874,  170,706  pounds ;  in  1877,  230,102  pounds ;  during  the  fiscal 
year  ending  in  1880,  553,451  pounds ;  an  increase  of  more  than  six-fold  in 
eleven  years. 


74  PERILS. — INTEMPERANCE. 

marked  increase  in  the  use  of  alcohol  during  recent 
years.  Since  1840,  its  consumption  in  Belgium  has 
increased  238  per  cent.  In  1869  there  were  120,000 
saloons  in  Prussia ;  in  1880  there  were  165,000.  From 
1831  to  1872,  while  the  population  (not  including  re- 
cent annexations)  increased  53  per  cent.,  whisky  sa-' 
loons  increased  91  per  cent.  For  all  Germany,  the  in- 
crease in  consumption  of  spirituous  liquors,  per  caput, 
from  1872  to  1875,  was  23.5  per  cent.  The  German 
correspondent  of  the  New  York  Nation  writes: 
"  Within  the  last  few  years  dram  and  whisky  drinking 
has,  with  fearful  rapidity,  spread  more  and  more 
among  the  working  classes.  Even  in  wine-growing 
and  beer-producing  countries,  alcohol  is  taking  the 
place  of  lighter  beverages."  In  Great  Britain,  during 
the  year  1800,  a  population  of  15,000,000  consumed  a 
little  less  than  12,000,000  gallons  of  spirits.  Fifty 
years  later,  a  population  of  27,000,000  consumed  28,- 
000,000  gallons.  In  1874,  a  population  of  32,000,000 
consumed  41,000,000  gallons.  That  is,  while  the 
population  increased  113  per  cent.,  the  consumption 
of  spirituous  liquors  increased  241  per  cent.  From 
1868  to  1877  (the  latest  statistics  to  which  I  have 
access),  while  the  population  increased  less  than  ten 
per  cent.,  the  amount  of  spirituous  liquors  consumed 
increased  thirty-seven  per  cent.  "In  the  United 
States,"  says  The  Voice,*  a  careful  and  accurate  au- 
thority, "  the  consumption  of  beer  has  increased,  since 
1840,  1,675  per  cent.,  of  wine  400  per  cent.,  and  of 
ardent  spirits  over  200  per  cent.f  (these  are  not  our  es- 
timates, but  are  figures  taken  from  the  governmental 
official  reports)."  According  to  these  official  reports, 
the  people  of  the  United  States  used  four  gallons  of 

*  Sept.  25tll,  1884. 

t  During  the  same  period  tlie  population  increased  about  217  per  cent. 


PEHILS. INTEMPERANCE.  76 

intoxicating  drinks  per  caput  in  1840,  and  twelve 
gallons  per  caput  in  1883.  During  the  five  years  pre- 
ceding 1884,  while  the  population  increased  about  15 
per  cent.,  the  consumption  of  distilled  spirits  increased 
44.5  per  cent.,  and  that  of  malt  liquors  60.2  per  cent. 
The  production  of  the  latter  has  risen  from  1,628,934 
barrels  in  1863  to  18,998,619  barrels  in  1884. 

It  should  be  remembered  that  at  the  beginning  of 
this  century  liquors  were  on  every  side-board,  and 
conscientious  scruples  against  their  moderate  use  were 
almost  unheard  of.  To-day  there  are  many  millions 
of  teetotalers  both  in  this  country  and  in  Great 
Britain.  Especially  during  the  past  twenty  years, 
while  the  manufacture  of  intoxicants  in  the  United 
States  has  so  rapidly  increased,  the  temperance  reform 
has  made  wonderful  progress,  and  the  proportion  of 
teetotalers  is  much  greater  to-day  than  ever  before. 
And  yet  there  is  much  more  liquor  used  per  caput 
now  than  formerly ;  showing,  conclusively,  that  there  is 
much  more  of  excess  now  than  then ;  declaring  that,  as 
a  nation  grows  nervous,  those  who  drink  at  all  are 
more  apt  to  drink  immoderately. 

Again,  in  the  second  place,  men  of  nervous  organiza- 
tion are  not  only  more  likely  than  others  to  use  al- 
cohol, and  to  use  it  to  excess,  but  its  effects  in  their 
case  are  worse  and  more  rapid.  The  wide  difference 
between  a  nervous  and  a  phlegmatic  temperament 
accounts  for  the  fact  that  one  man  will  kill  himself 
with  drink  in  four  or  five  years,  and  another  in  forty 
or  fifty.  The  phlegmatic  man  is  but  little  sensitive  to 
stimulus  ;  hence,  when  its  influence  wears  off,  there  is 
little  reaction.  He,  accordingly,  forms  the  appetite 
slowly,  and  the  process  of  destruction  is  slow.  An- 
other man,  of  fine  nervous  organization,  takes  a  glass 


76  PERILS. — INTEMPERANCE. 

of  spirits,  and  every  nerve  in  his  body  tingles  and 
leaps.  The  reaction  is  severe,  and  the  nerves  cry  out 
for  more.  The  appetite,  rapidly  formed,  soon  becomes 
uncontrollable,  and  the  miserable  end  is  not  long  de- 
layed. The  higher  development  of  the  nervous  sys- 
tem, which  comes  with  the  progress  of  civilization, 
renders  men  more  sensitive  to  pain,  more  susceptible 
to  the  evil  results  which  attend  excess  of  any  kind. 
Savages  may,  almost  with  impunity,  transgress  laws 
of  health  which  would  inflict  on  civilized  men,  for  like 
transgression,  penalties  well-nigh  or  quite  iatal.  It 
would  seem  as  if  God  intended  that,  as  men  sin  against 
the  greater  light  which  comes  with  increasing  civiliza- 
tion, they  should  suffer  severer  punishment. 

It  has  been  shown  that  the  use  of  intoxicants  is 
more  dangerous  for  this  generation  than  it  has  been 
for  any  preceding  generation ;  that  it  is  more  danger- 
ous for  inhabitants  of  the  nervous  belt  than  for  the  re- 
mainder of  mankind;  that  it  is  more  dangerous  for 
the  people  of  the  United  States  than  for  other  inhabit- 
ants of  this  belt.  It  remains  to  be  shown  that  it  is 
more  dangerous  for  the  people  of  the  West  than  for 
those  of  the  East. 

Among  the  principal  causes  which  are  operative  to 
render  the  typical  American  temperament  more  nervous 
than  the  European  is  the  greater  dryness  of  our  cli- 
mate. "  Dr.  Max  von  Pettenkof er  has  concluded,  from 
the  investigations  he  has  made  into  the  comparative 
loss  of  heat  experienced  by  a  person  breathing  dry  air 
and  one  breathing  damp  air,  that  with  the  dry  air 
more  heat  is  lost  and  more  created,  and,  in  conse- 
quence, the  circulation  is  quicker  and  more  intense, 
life  is  more  energetic,  and  there  is  no  opportunity  for 
the  excessive  accumulation  of  fat  or  flesh,  or  for  the 


PERILS. INTEMPERANCE.  77 

development  of  a  phlegmatically  nervous  tempera- 
ment." *  The  mountain  region  of  the  West  has  by 
far  the  dryest  atmosphere  of  any  portion  of  the  coun- 
try. The  writer  has  often  seen  Long's  Peak  by  moon- 
light at  a  distance  of  eighty  miles.  The  wonderful 
transparency  of  that  mountain  air  is  due  to  the  ab- 
sence of  moisture.  Such  a  climate  is  itself  a  wine,  and 
life  in  it  is  greatly  intensified,  with  corresponding  re- 
sults in  the  nervous  system.  We  should,  accordingly, 
expect  to  find  a  marked  increase  of  intemperance. 
And  such  is  the  case.  In  the  Mississippi  valley, 
where  the  altitude  is  low,  and  the  atmosphere  moist, 
there  is  much  less  intemperance  than  in  the  mountains, 
as  appears  from  the  ratio  of  voters  to  saloons.  Take 
the  tier  of  states  and  territories  next  east  of  the  Rocky 
Mountain  range.  In  1880,  Dakota  had  95  voters  to 
every  saloon ;  f  Nebraska,  133 ;  Kansas,  224 ;  and 
Texas,  136.  But  notice  the  change  as  soon  as  we 
reach  the  high  altitudes.  Montana  had  only  28  voters 
to  each  saloon;  Wyoming,  43;  Colorado,  37;  New 
Mexico,  26 ;  Arizona,  25  ;  Utah,  84 ;  Idaho,  35 ;  Wash- 
ington, 68 ;  Oregon,  58 ;  California,  37 ;  and  Nevada, 
32.  The  average  for  the  states  between  the  Missis- 
sippi and  the  Eocky  Mountains  was  one  saloon  to 
every  112.5  voters.  In  the  eleven  mountain  states  and 
territories,  the  average  was  one  saloon  to  every  43 
voters.  East  of  the  Mississippi,  the  average  was  one 
saloon  to  every  107.7  voters.  If  our  assumption  that 
the  ratio  of  saloons  to  voters  correctly  measures  in- 
temperance, is  just,  the  people  in  the  western  third  of 

*  C.  E.  Young,  in  Popular  Science  Monthly,  September,  1880. 

t  Statistics  compiled  from  Census  of  1880,  and  Internal  Revenue  of  same 
year.  The  number  of  saloons  is  doubtless  much  larger  than  is  reported  by 
the  Census ;  but  for  comparison  between  the  East  and  West,  or  the  city  and 
country,  the  Census  statistics  answer  every  purpose. 


78  PEBILS. INTEMPERANCE. 

the  United  States  are  two  and  one-half  times  as  in- 
temperate as  those  in  the  eastern  two-thirds.  There 
are  several  causes  of  this,  some  of  which  are  more  or 
less  temporary ;  but  one  of  the  chief  influences  is  cli- 
matic, which  will  continue  operative. 

We  have  seen  that  the  progress  of  civilization  brings 
men  into  more  intimate  relations,  that  closer  contact 
quickens  activity,  that  increased  activity  refines  the 
nervous  system,  and  that  a  highly  nervou3  organization 
invites  intemperance,  and  at  the  same  time  renders  its 
destructive  results  swifter  and  more  fatal.  Thus  the 
very  progress  of  civilization  renders  men  the  easier 
victims  of  intemperance.  We  have  also  seen  that  un- 
der regulation  the  liquor  traffic  increases  much  more 
rapidly  than  the  population.  The  alternative,  then, 
seems  simple,  clear,  certain,  that  civilization  must  de- 
stroy the  liquor  traffic  or  be  destroyed  by  it.  Even 
here  in  the  East,  where  there  is  only  one  saloon  to 
every  107  voters,  this  death  struggle  is  desperate,  and 
no  man  looks  for  an  easy  victory  over  the  dragon. 
What,  then,  of  the  far  West,  where  the  relative  power 
of  the  saloon  is  two-and-a-half  times  greater  I 

II. — THE  LIQUOE  POWER. 

The  liquor  traffic,  of  course,  implies  two  parties,  the 
buyer  and  the  seller.  The  preceding  discussion  re- 
lates to  the  former,  only  a  few  words  touching  the  lat- 
ter. According  to  the  Keport  of  the  Commissioner  of 
Internal  Eevenue  for  1883,  there  were  then  in  the 
United  States  206,970  liquor  dealers  and  manufactur- 
ers. Their1  saloons,  allowing  twenty  feet  front  to  each, 
would  reach  in  an  unbroken  line  from  Chicago  to  New 
York.  There  is  invested  in  this  business  an  immense 
capital.  The  North  American  JZeview  estimates  it  at 


PERILS. — INTEMPERANCE.  7  9 

$1,000,000,000,   which   is    very   moderate,   if    Joseph 
Cook's  statement  is  correct,  that  there  are  $75,000,000 
engaged  in  this  traffic  in  the  city  of  Boston.     In  an 
address  in  the  House  of  Eepresentatives,  in  favor  of 
the  Bonded  Whisky  Bill,  Hon.  P.  V.  Deuster,  of  Wis- 
consin, member  of  Congress,  and  special  champion  of 
the  liquor  dealers,  said  that  the  total  market  value  of 
the  spirituous,  malt,  and  vinous  liquors  produced  in 
1883  was  $490,961,588.     According  to  the  census,  the 
capital  invested  in   their  manufacture   was,  in  1880, 
$132,051,260.     It  is  generally  estimated  that  the  an- 
nual liquor  bill  of   the  nation  is  $900,000,000.      So 
great  wealth  in  the  hands  of  one  class,  having  common 
interests  and  a  common  purpose,  is  a  mighty  power. 
And  this  power  does  not  lack  organization.     There  is 
a  combination  of  all  the  distillers  north  of  the  Ohio, 
from   Pittsburgh   to  the  Pacific.      Their   success   at 
Washington  a  few  years  since  in  securing  legislation 
which  granted  to  whisky  makers  peculiar  privileges, 
accorded  to  no  other  tax  payers,  is  sufficient  evidence 
of  their  power.     The  United  States  Brewers'  Associa- 
tion was  organized  in  1862.     The  object  of  the  organi- 
zation may  be  inferred  from  the  introduction  to  their 
constitution,  where  we  read:    "That   the   owners  of 
breweries,  separately,  are  unable  to  exercise  a  proper 
influence  in  the  interest  of  the  craft  in  the  legislature 
and  public  administration."     How  this  "  proper  influ- 
ence" is  brought  to  bear  upon  legislatures  will  appear 
later.    That  it  is  potent  there  can  be  no  doubt.     At  the 
Brewers'  Congress,  held  in  Buffalo,  July   8th,    1868, 
President  Clausen,  speaking  of  the  action  of  the  New 
York  branch  of  the  association,  relative  to  the  excise 
law  of  that  state,  said :  "  Neither  means  nor  money 
were  spared  during  the  past  twelve  months  to  accom- 


80  PERILS. INTEMPERANCE. 

plish  the  repeal  of  this  detested  law.  The  entire  Ger- 
man population  were  enlisted."  "Editorials  favorable 
to  the  repeal  were  published  in  sixty  different  English 
and  German  newspapers.  Just  before  the  election, 
30,000  campaign  circulars  were  distributed  among 
the  Germans  of  the  different  counties.  A  state  con- 
vention of  brewers,  hop  and  malt  dealers,  hop  growers, 
etc.,  was  largely  attended,  and  resolutions  were 
adopted  in  which  we  pledged  ourselves  to  support 
only  such  candidates  who  bound  themselves  to  work 
for  the  repeal  of  the  excise  law,  and  thereby  check  the 
exertions  of  the  temperance  party.  These  resolutions 
were  published,  principally  through  the  English  press, 
in  all  the  counties  of  the  state.  By  these  efforts  the 
former  minority  in  the  Assembly  was  changed  to  a  ma- 
jority of  twenty  votes  in  our  favor."  The  object  of 
this  association  is  not  industrial,  but  avowedly  polit- 
ical. The  president  said,  at  the  Chicago  Congress,  in 
1867 :  "  Only  by  union  in  brotherly  love  it  will  be  pos- 
sible to  attain  such  results,  guard  against  oppressive 
laws,  raise  ourselves  to  be  a  large  and  wide-spread  po- 
litical power,  and  with  confidence  anticipate  complete 
success  in  all  our  undertakings."  Again  at  Davenport, 
in  1870,  President  Clausen  said  :  "  Unity  is  necessary, 
and  we  must  form  an  organization  that  not  only  con- 
trols a  capital  of  two  hundred  million  dollars,  but 
which  also  commands  thousands  of  votes,  politically, 
through  which  our  legislators  will  discern  our  power." 
At  the  Chicago  Congress,  the  brewers  resolved :  "  That 
we  consider  it  absolutely  necessary  that  our  organiza- 
tion should  exist  in  every  state  and  county."  The  fol- 
lowing resolution  was  passed  by  the  Liquor  Dealers 
and  Manufacturers'  Association  of  Illinois,  four  years 
ago  ;  "Resolved,  That  the  maintenance  and  perfection 


PERILS. INTEMPERANCE.  81 

of  our  present  State  Association  is  absolutely  neces- 
sary for  the  proper  protection  of  our  business  inter- 
ests ;  that  the  new  Board  of  Trustees  spare  neither 
trouble  nor  expense  to  properly -organize  every  sena- 
torial district  in  the  state,  so  that,  by  the  time  of  the 
next  election  of  members  of  the  General  Assembly,  the 
business  men  engaged  in  the  liquor  trade  may  be  thor- 
oughly organized  and  disciplined."  The  Brewers  and 
Maltsters'  Association,  of  New  York,  claims  to  control 
in  that  state  35,000  votes. 

Let  us  look  now  at  some  of  the  methods  of  the 
Liquor  Power.  The  brewers  favor  boycotting.  The 
following  resolution  was  passed  at  their  seventh  con- 
gress :  "Resolved,  That  we  find  it  necessary,  in  a  busi- 
ness point  of  view,  to  patronize  only  such  business  men 
as  will  work  hand-in-hand  with  us."  A  blacksmith, 
who  was  employed  by  a  brewer,  served  on  a  jury  which 
convicted  a  saloon-keeper  of  selling  liquor  contrary  to 
law,  and  in  consequence  lost  his  situation.  By  their 
own  confession,  they  expend  money  freely  to  accomplish 
their  purpose  at  the  polls.  The  Chicago  delegate  at 
the  Milkaukee  Congress,  June  6th,  1877,  said :  "  The 
brewers  of  Illinois  have  expended  $10,000  to  beat  the 
temperance  party  at  the  elections."  The  Chair  said : 
"Almost  every  local  association  has  expended  large 
amounts  for  this  purpose."  The  liquor  lobby  at  Al- 
bany, New  York,  at  the  session  of  1878 — 9,  admitted 
before  a  legislative  committee  that  they  had  expended 
about  $100,000  to  influence  legislation.  From  the  con- 
fessions of  an  old  liquor-dealer  and  lobbyist*  we  learn 
by  what  methods  legislation  at  Albany  was  "influ- 
enced" twenty  years  ago.  After  the  election  and  be- 
fore the  legislature  convened,  "  Our  correspondents 

*  C.  B.  Cotton,  in  The  Voice  for  Feb.  5th,  1885. 


82  PEBILS. INTEMPERANCE. 

throughout  the  state  gave  us  special  and  truthful  de- 
scriptions of  every  one  of  the  opposition  members, 
their  mode  of  life,  their  habits,  their  eccentricities  and 
their  religious  views ;.  whether  they  were  approachable : 
with  a  thorough  analysis  of  their  characters  in  every 
way,  so  that  we  might  understand  our  subjects  in  ad- 
vance." If  the  stiff-necked  legislator  could  not  be  in- 
duced to  vote  directly  against  temperance  measures,  or 
persuaded  to  "  dodge,"  he  must  be  convinced  that  he 
was  sick,  threatened  with  diphtheria  or  something  else, 
and  unable  to  leave  his  room.  A  sworn  affidavit  of  the 
doctor  to  this  effect  cost  "  anywhere  from  $25  to  $100, 
according  to  the  size  of  the  lie  sworn  to."  These  cases 
of  sickness  never  proved  fatal,  and  recovery  was  always 
rapid.  "I  well  remember  a  senator  who  was  in  great 
distress  about  a  mortgage  that  was  being  foreclosed  on 
his  house,  amounting  to  about  $1,500.  This  man's 
trouble  came  to  the  knowledge  of  the  lobby.  Suddenly 
one  of  the  lobbyists  was  missing,  and  a  few  days  later 
the  senator  received  his  canceled  mortgage  through 
the  post.  He  never  forgot  the  favor,  nor  did  his  vote 
do  us  any  harm  afterward."  Sometimes  a  member 
found  an  elegant  suit  of  clothes  hanging  over  a  chair 
by  his  bedside  in  the  morning ;  and  sometimes  a  rela- 
tive would  be  presented  with  a  neat  little  house.  An- 
other popular  method  was  for  a  member  to  receive  a 
package  by  express  from  Troy,  or  some  other  town 
near  by.  "This  package  always  contained  a  certain 
sum  of  money,  and  it  was  always  so  arranged  that  one 
of  the  lobby  should  be  with  the  gentleman  wlien  the 
package  came  to  hand.  No  receipt  was  ever  taken  from 
the  sender  in  his  real  name,  but  the  receiver  gave  the 
Express  Company  one  in  his  real  name.  So  we  had  all 
the  evidence  we  needed,  and  the  receiver  dared  not  go 


PERILS. INTEMPERANCE.  83 

back  on  the  compact  the  transaction  covered.  From 
that  moment  he  was  at  the  mercy  of  the  lobby."  "  If 
our  tactics  failed  in  the  legislature,  and  temperance 
laws  were  passed,  we  went  home  to  defeat  their  execu- 
tion. The  officers  designated  to  execute  these  laws 
were  generally  elected.  If  by  ourselves,  it  was  all 
right.  If  by  our  opponents,  we  had  to  buy  them  up, 
and  but  few  were  found  who  would  not  take  a  bribe." 
"Although  the  liquor  lobby,  during  the  last  forty  years, 
has  used  millions  of  dollars  in  corrupt  bargaining  and 
bribery,  and  never  has  made  a  secret  of  the  fact,  yet  no 
member  was  ever  caught  in  the  act,  and,  it  is  fair  to 
presume,  no  one  ever  will  be.  There  is  no  way  so 
dark  they  cannot  find  their  road  through."  Thus  does 
the  Liquor  Power  corrupt  public  morals  and  defeat  the 
popular  will. 

And  this  power,  which  does  not  hesitate  to  buj 
votes  or  intimidate  voters,  to  defy  the  law  or  bribe 
its  officers,  comes  to  its  kingdom  through  political 
partisanship,  which  enables  it  to  make  one  of  the  two 
great  parties  its  slave,  and  the  other  its  minister. 
Even  in  the  cities  the  citizens  who  desire  clean  govern 
ment  are  in  the  majority;  but,  instead  of  uniting  to 
make  and  enforce  good  laws,  they  permit  politics  to 
enter  into  the  elections,  thus  throwing  the  power  into 
the  hands  of  the  bad  minority.  "There  are  two 
things,"  said  D'Alembert,  "  that  can  reach  the  top  of 
the  pyramid — the  eagle  and  the  reptile."  Under  the  rum 
government  of  our  cities,  the  reptile  climbs.  In  1883, 
of  the  twenty-four  aldermen  of  the  city  of  New  York, 
ten  were  liquor-dealers  and  two  others,  including  the 
President  of  the  Boarel,  were  ex-rumsellers.  Impor- 
tant offices  in  the  city  government,  which  pay  a  salary 
of  $12,000  or  $15,000,  have  within  a  few  years  been 


84  PERILS. INTEMPERANCE. 

occupied  by  men  who  kept  "bucket  shops"  and  "all- 
night "  dens ;  some  had  been  prize  fighters,  and  others 
had  been  tried  for  the  crime  of  murder.  Is  it  strange 
if  the  law  in  the  hands  of  such  men  is  a  dead  letter  *? 
Says  Anthony  Comstock:  "I  have  no  doubt  many  of 
our  influential  city  politicians  are  in  receipt  of  a  regular 
revenue  in  the  way  of  hush  money  from  gambling-sa- 
loons, brothels  and  groggeries,  and  the  word  is  passed  all 
the  way  down  the  line  to  let  them  alone."  Dr.  Howard 
Crosby  says :  "  One  of  the  captains  of  police  is  said 
to  have  made  $70,000  in  one  year  by  his  carefulness  in 
leaving  the  law-breakers  alone.  Anybody  with  half  an 
eye  can  see  that  the  exemption  of  the  liquor-selling 
law-breakers  from  prosecution  is  a  system  and  not  an 
accident."  "From  Police  Headquarters  goes  forth 
the  order,  not  written  but  verbal,  that  the  police  are 
not  to  enforce  the  excise  law.  Ihave  had  my  man  on 
the  force,  and  can  speak  with  knowledge  of  the  facts. 
If  a  man  is  arrested  for  violating  an  excise  law,  the 
next  morning  the  one  who  arrested  him  is  called  up, 
reprimanded,  and  the  man  arrested  is  discharged, 
while  the  policeman  is  transferred  to  some  far-off  dis- 
trict, the  twenty-fourth  ward,  for  instance — that  Bot-» 
any  Bay  of  the  police  force — if  he  is  not  immediately 
discharged  by  those  four  men  we  call  Commissioners." 
Says  the  New  York  Times :  "  The  great  underlying 
evil,  which  paralyzes  every  effort  to  get  good  laws,  and 
to  secure  the  enforcement  of  such  as  we  have,  is  the 
system  of  local  politics,  which  gives  the  saloon-keepers 
more  power  over  government  than  is  possesssed  by  all 
tbe  religious  and  educational  institutions  in  the  city." 
Our  cities  are  growing  much  more  rapidly  than  the 
Tffrole  population,  as  is  the  liquor  power  also.  If  this 
power  continues  to  keep  the  cities  under  its  heel,  what 


PERILS. SOCIALISM.  83 

of  the  nation,  when  the  city  dominates  the  country? 
Such  a  powerful  organization,  resorting  to  such  un- 
scrupulous methods  in  the  interest  of  a  legitimate 
business — mining,  railroading — would  be  exceedingly 
dangerous  in  a  republic;  and  the  whole  outcome  of 
this  traffic,  pushed  by  such  wealth,  such  organized  en- 
ergy and  such  means,  is  the  corrupting  of  the  citizen 
and  the  embruting  of  the  man. 

And  if  the  liquor  power  is  a  peril  at  the  East,  what 
of  the  Eocky  Mountain  region  and  beyond,  where 
mammonism  is  more  abject,  where  there  is  less  of 
Christian  principle  to  resist  the  bribe,  and  where  the 
relative  power  of  the  liquor  traffic  is  two  and  a  half 
times  greater  than  at  tbe  East? 


CHAPTEE  Yin. 

PEEILS. SOCIALISM. 

SOCIALISM  attempts  to  solve  the  problem  of  suffering 
without  eliminating  tne  factor  of  sin.  It  says :  "From 
each  according  to  his  abilities;  to  each  according  to 
his  wants."  But  this  dictum  of  Louis  Blanc  could  be 
realized  only  in  a  perfect  society.  Forgetting  that 
"  there  is  no  political  alchemy  by  which  you  can  get 
golden  conduct  out  of  leaden  instincts,"*  socialism 
thinks  to  regenerate  society  without  regenerating  the 
individual.  It  proposes  to  work  this  regeneration  by 

*  Herbert  Spencer,  in  Contemporary  Review,  April,  1884,  p.  482. 


W  PEKILS. SOCIALISM. 

reorganizing  society  on  a  co-operative,  instead  of  a 
competitive,  basis.  It  talks  much  of  fraternity,  but 
forgets  what  Maurice  finely  said,  that  "there  is  no  fra- 
ternity without  a  common  Father." 

It  attracts  two  very  different  and  almost  opposite 
classes  of  minds ;  the  one,  men  of  large  heart,  philan- 
thropic, often  self-sacrificing,  but  unpractical.  Among 
this  class  there  are  not  a  few  noble  and  brilliant  names. 
The  other  class  embraces  discontented,  envious,  selfish, 
and  often  desperate,  men,  who  are  terribly  practical  in 
their  proposed  methods.  Some  have  become  discour- 
aged and  sullen  under  real  grievances,  others  are 
thoroughly  vicious  and  lawless. 

The  despotism  of  the  few  and  the  wretchedness  of 
the  many  have  produced  European  socialism.  It  has 
been  supposed  that  its  doctrines  could  never  obtain  in 
this  land  of  freedom  and  plenty ;  but  there  may  be  a 
despotism  which  is  not  political,  and  a  discontent 
which  does  not  spring  from  hunger.  We  have  dis- 
covered that  German  socialism  has  been  largely  in_ 
ported,  has  taken  root,  and  is  making  a  vigorous 
growth.  Let  us  look  at  it  as  it  appears  in  this  ^)u&- 
try.  There  are  two  parties  in  the  United  States, 
known  as  the  "  Socialistic  Labor  Party,"  and  the  "  In- 
ternational Workingmen's  Association."  The  one  is 
the  thin,  the  other  the  thick,  end  of  the  socialistic 
wedge.  Both  seek  to  overthrow  existing  social  and 
economic  institutions;  both  propose  a  co-operative 
form  of  production  and  exchange,  as  a  substitute  for 
the  existing  capitalistic  and  competitive  system ;  both 
expect  a  great  and  bloody  revolution ;  but  they  differ 
widely  as  to  policy  and  extreme  doctrines.  The  plat- 
form* of  the  Socialistic  Labor  Party  contains  much 

*  See  the  document  in  Joseph  Cook'a  "  Socialism,"  pp.  20—22. 


PERILS SOCIALISM.  87 

that  is  reasonable,  and  is  well  calculated  to  disciple 
American  workmen.  It  does  not,  as  a  party,  attack 
the  family  or  religion,  and  is  opposed  to  anarchy. 
The  International  Workingmen's  Association,  which  is 
much  the  larger  party,  is  extreme  and  violent.  The 
ideals  of  the  Internationals  are  "common  property, 
socialistic  production  and  distribution,  the  grossest 
materialism — for  their  god  is  their  belly,  free  love,  in 
all  social  arrangements,  perfect  individualism;  or,  in 
other  words,  anarchy.  Negatively  expressed — Away 
with  private  property!  Away  with  all  authority! 
Away  with  the  state !  Away  with  the  family !  Away 
with  religion!"*  In  the  manifesto  unanimously 
adopted  by  the  Internationals  at  Pittsburgh,  occurs' 
the  following :  "  The  church  finally  seeks  to  make  com- 
plete idiots  of  the  mass,  and  to  make  them  forego  the 
paradise  on  earth  by  promising  them  a  fictitious 
heaven."  "Truth"  published  in  San  Francisco,  says: 
"When  the  laboring  men  understand  that  the  heaven 
which  they  are  promised  hereafter  is  but  a  mirage, 
they  will  knock  at  the  door  of  the  wealthy  robber,  with 
a  musket  in  hand,  and  demand  their  share  of  the  goods 
of  this  life  now."  "Freiheit"  the  blasphemous  paper 
of  Herr  Most,  thus  concludes  an  article  on  the 
"  Fruits  of  the  Belief  in  God":  "  Keligion,  authority 
and  state,  are  all  carved  out  of  the  same  piece  of  wood 
— to  the  Devil  with  them  all !"  The  same  sheet  "  ad- 
vocates a  new  genealogy,  traced  from  mothers,  whose 
names,  and  not  those  of  the  fathers,  descend  to  the 
children,  since  it  is  never  certain  who  the  father  is." 
"Public  and  common  up-bringing  of  children  is  likewise 

*  Prof.  R.  T.  Ely,  in  The  Christian  Union.  For  an  able  exposition  of  Re- 
cent Phases  of  Socialism  in  the  United  States,  see  articles  by  Professor  Ely, 
in  The  Christian  Union  for  April  24th,  May  1st,  and  May  8th,  1884. 


88  PEKILS. SOCIALISM. 

favored  in  the  'FreiheitJ  in  order  that  the  old  family 
may  completely  abandon  the  field  to  free  love."  * 

Having  lost  all  faith  in  the  ballot,  the  Internationals 
propose  to  carry  out  their  "  reforms"  by  force.  The 
following  is  from  the  Pittsburgh  manifesto :  "  Agita- 
tion for  the  purpose  of  organization  ;  organization  for 
the  purpose  of  rebellion.  In  these  few  words  the  ways 
are  marked,  which  the  workers  must  take  if  they  want 
to  be  rid  of  their  chains.  We  could  show,  by  scores  of 
illustrations,  that  all  attempts  in  the  past  to  reform 
this  monstrous  system  by  peaceable  means,  such  as 
the  ballot,  have  been  futile,  and  all  such  efforts  in  the 
future  must  necessarily  be  so.  There  remains  but  one 
recourse — force !" 

The  Central  Labor  Union  had  a  parade  in  New  York 
City,  September  5th,  1883,  in  which  from  ten  to  fifteen 
thousand  laborers  participated.  Some  of  their  ban- 
ners were  inscribed  as  follows :  "  Workers  in  the  Ten- 
ements, Idlers  in  the  Brown-stone  Fronts";  "Down 
with  Oppressive  Capital";  "The  Wage  System  Makes 
Us  Slaves";  "  We  Must  Crush  Monopolies  Lest  They 
Crush  Us";  "Prepare  for  the  Coming  Kevolution"; 
"  Every  Man  Must  Have  a  Breech-loader,  and  Know 
How  to  Use  It."  The  Vbrbote,  published  in  Chicago, 
glorifies  dynamite  as  "the  power  which,  in  our  hands, 
shall  make  an  end  of  tyranny."  Truth  says :  "  War  to 
"  the  palace,  peace  to  the  cottage,  death  to  luxurious 
idleness.  We  have  no  moment  to  waste.  Arm !  I  say, 
to  the  teeth  !  for  the  revolution  is  upon  you."  An  ar- 
ticle in  the  Freiheit,  entitled  "  Kevolutionary  Princi- 
ples," contained  the  following :  "  He  (the  revolutionist) 
is  the  irreconcilable  enemy  of  this  world,  and,  if  he 
continues  to  live  in  it,  it  is  only  that  he  may  thereby 

*  Professor  Ely,  in  The  Christian  Union. 


PERILS. — SOCIALISM.  89 

more  certainly  destroy  it.  He  knows  only  one  science 
— namely,  destruction.  For  this  purpose  he  studies 
day  and  night.  For  him  everything  is  moral  which 
favors  the  triumph  of  the  revolution,  everything  is  im- 
moral and  criminal  which  hinders  it.  Day  and  night 
may  he  cherish  only  one  thought,  only  one  purpose — 
namely,  inexorable  destruction.  While  he  pursues 
this  purpose,  without  rest  and  in  cold  blood,  he  must 
be  ready  to  die,  and  equally  ready  to  kill  every  one 
with  his  own  hands  who  hinders  him  in  the  attainment 
of  this  purpose."  There  has  been  recently  formed  in 
the  United^tates  a  society  called  "  The  Black  Hand," 
which,  in  its  proclamation,  urges  "  the  propaganda  of 
deed  in  every  form,"  and  cries:  "War  to  the  knife!" 
The  explosions  in  the  Houses  of  Parliament  and  Tow- 
er of  London  called  forth  the  following  declarations  at 
a  meeting  of  socialists  in  Chicago :  "  This  explosion 
has  demonstrated  that  socialists  can  safely  go  into 
large  congregations  in  broad  daylight  and  explode 
their  bombs. 

"  A  little  hog's  grease  and  a  little  nitric  acid  make  a 
terrible  explosion.  Ten  cents'  worth  would  blow  a 
building  to  atoms. 

"  Dynamite  can  be  made  out  of  the  dead  bodies  of 
capitalists  as  well  as  out  of  hogs. 

"  All  Chicago  can  be  set  ablaze  in  a  minute  by  elec- 
tricity. 

"  Private  property  must  be  abolished,  if  we  have  to 
use  all  the  dynamite  there  is,  and  blow  ninety-nine 
hundredths  of  the  people  off  the  face  of  the  earth." 

At  the  tinte  of  the  railroad  riots,  in  1877,  which  cost 
many  lives,  and  not  less  than  a  hundred  million  dol 
lars  of  property,  and  to  quell  which  ten  states,  reach 
ing  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific,  called  on  the  Pres 


90  PEBILS. SOCIALISM. 

ident  of  the  Ignited  States  for  troops,  there  were  but 
few  socialists  among  us,  and  they  seem  to  have  been 
taken  unawares  by  the  outbreak ;  but  they  will  be  pre- 
pared to  make  the  most  of  the  next.  The  following 
are  stock  phrases,  found  in  all  their  publications: 
"  Get  ready  for  another  1877";  "  Buy  a  musket  for  a 
repetition  of  1877";  "Buy  dynamite  for  a  second  1877"; 
"  Organize  companies  and  drill  io  be  ready  for  a  re- 
currence of  the  riots  of  1877." 

As  to  the  number  of  socialists  in  the  United  States 
-we  have  no  exact  knowledge.  •  Their  press  is  numerous 
and  is  increasing.  Moreover,  "there  are  a , very  large 
aumber  of  papers  like  the  Labor  World  of  Philadel- 
phia, organs  of  the  Knights  of  Labor,  and  other  labor 
organizations,  which  have  many  points  in  common  with 
the  socialistic  parties,  which  are  growing  nearer  to 
them  continually,  and  which  undoubtedly  help  forward 
the  general  movement."*  The  labor  papers  of  Michi- 
gan claim  that,  at  the  elections  last  fall,  nineteen  mem- 
bers of  the  labor  organizations  were  elected  to  the 
State  Legislature.  In  1878  four  socialistic  aldermen 
were  elected  in  Chicago,  and  the  party's  candidate  for 
mayor  received  twelve  thousand  votes.  Three  candi- 
dates for  the  House  of  Eepresentatives  of  Illinois,  and 
one  state  senator  were  elected  the  same  year.f  Pro- 
fessor Ely  doubts  whether  there  are  ten  thousand  out- 
spoken adherents  of  the  Socialistic  Labor  Party  in  this 
country.  The  Internationals  are  much  stronger,  and 
are  growing  rapidly.  A  prominent  member  of  this 
party  in  Chicago  claims  twenty-five  thousand  men, 
"  all  armed  and  drilled."  President  Seelye,  flf  Amherst 
College,  says:  "There  are  probably  100,000  men  in 

*  Professor  Ely,  in  the  Christian  Union,  May  8th,  1384. 
t  Quoted  by  Prof.  Ely  from  the  socialist's  report  published  in  Detroit,  1880. 


PERILS. SOCIALISM.  91 

the  United  States  to-day  whose  animosity  against  all 
existing  social  institutions  is  hardly  less  than  bound- 
less "*  A  writerf  in  The  New  Englander  for  January, 
1884,  says  there  are  in  this  country  "  200,000  members 
of  labor  organizations  who  are  more  or  less  familiar 
with  the  doctrines  of  socialism."  This  is  apparently  a 
very  mild  statement,  as  the  leading  papers  of  New  York 
C?  Yyr  claimed,  as  long  ago  as  the  summer  of  1881,  that 
"  The  Knights  of  Labor  "  alone  numbered  800,000,  be- 
sides many  smaller  organizations,  which  are  more  or 
less  socialistic  in  their  sympathies  and  ideas,  though 
not  avowedly  connected  with  either  of  the  socialistic 
parties.  The  Vorbote  of  Chicago  says :  "  You  might 
as  well  suppose  the  military  organizations  of  Europe 
were  for  play  and  parade,  as  to  suppose  labor  organiza- 
tions were  for  mere  insurance  and  pacific  helpfulness. 
They  are  organized  to  protect  interests,  for  which,  if 
the  time  comes,  they  would  fight."  But  the  present 
strength  of  socialistic  organizations  in  the  United 
States  concerns  us  less  than  their  prospective  numbers. 
Let  us  look  at  the  conditions  favorable  to  the  growth 
of  socialism.  The  reception  given  to  the  books  of  Mr. 
Henry  George  is  one  of  the  signs  of  the  times.  "  Prog- 

*  The  reception  given  to  Herr  Most  in  this  country  is  significant.  His  ad- 
vocacy of  assassination  as  a  means  of  progress  was  too  extreme  for  the 
Social-democratic  party  in  Germany,  from  which  he  was  expelled  on  ac- 
count of  his  views.  He  has,  however,  been  accorded  a  warm  welcome  in 
the  United  States.  The  writer  heard  him  in  Cincinnati  soon  after  the  riot 
His  subject  was,  "The  Coming  Crisis  of  the  World,  and  the  Social  Revolu- 
tion." He  began  his  remarks  by  saying  that  some  had  connected  the  late 
riot  in  this  city  with  his  speeches.  His  defense  was  that  "  If  the  socialists, 
in  their  might,  and  the  working  men,  had  arisen,  they  would  not  have  at- 
tacked the  jail  and  its  murderers,  but  have  gone  to  the  palaces  of  the  rich." 
Although  it  was  a  rainy  night  the  hall  was  packed  with  a  sympathetic  audi- 
ence, even  the  standing  room  being  taken.  His  most  bloodthirsty  and  in- 
cendiary utterances  were  applauded  to  the  echo  with  voice,  hand  and  foot 
He  has  met  like  audiences  in  other  large  cities. 

t  Rev.  Edward  Kirk  Rawsoa, 


92  PEKELS. SOCIALISM. 

ress  and  Poverty  "  has  been  read  by  tens  of  thousands 
of  workingmen.  And  the  fact  that  the  demand  for  an 
economic  work  should  exhaust  more  than  a  hundred 
editions,  and  still  continue  unsatisfied,  indicates  a  great 
deal  of  popular  sympathy  with  its  doctrines.  That  Mr. 
George  has  made  many  disciples  among  American 
workmen  is  shown  by  the  organs  of  the  various  laboi 
organizations;  and  any  one  who  is  convinced  that 
proprietorship  in  land  is  unjust,  has  taken  at  least  one 
step  toward  Proudhon's  famous  doctrine  that  "prop- 
erty is  theft."  Mr.  George  has  rendered  eminent  ser- 
vice to  the  cause  of  socialism  against  traditional  law 
by  bringing  to  its  support,  in  the  United  States,  the 
strength  of  moral  ideas. 

1.  Most  of  the  Internationals,  the  anarchic  socialists, 
in  this  country  are  Germans,  whose  numbers  are  con- 
stantly being  recruited  by  immigration.     And  not  only 
is  immigration  to  increase,  but  socialism  is  spreading 
rapidly  in  Germany,  which  will  influence  its  growth 
here.     "  Since  the  organization  of  the  German  Empire 
the  social  democratic  votes  for  members  of  the  Impe- 
rial Parliament  (Keichstag)  have  numbered  as  follows : 
1871,   123,975;  1874,   351,952;    1877,   493,288;  1878, 
437,158.*    In  1884  the  socialists  of  Germany  cast  700,- 
000  votes  and  elected  twenty-four  members  of  the 
Beichstag.  "  Professor  Fawcett,  in  opening  his  present 
course  of  lectures  at  Oxford,  said  that,  if  the  growth  of 
the  socialistic  political  vote  progressed  in  Germany  and 
the  United  States  for  the  next  fifty  years  as  it  has  for 
the  last  fifty,  capital  can  do  nothing  effectual  against 
socialism."! 

2.  There  are  other  influences,  which,  though  obscure, 

*  Professor  Ely's  "French  and  German  Socialism  in  Modern  Times,"  p.  213. 
t  Joseph  Cook's  "Socialism,"  p.  17*  1880. 


PEKILS. SOCIALISM.  93 

are  no  less  potent  than  immigration  in  fostering  the 
growth  of  socialism  in  America.  Among  the  deep  cur- 
rents of  the  centuries,  flowing  down  through  the  lasi 
eighteen  hundred  years,  there  has  been  an  irresistible 
drift  toward  individualism.  Guizot  says  that  the 
"  prime  element  in  modern  European  civilization  is  the 
energy  of  individual  life,  the  force  of  personal  exist- 
ence." The  masses  once  existed  for  the  state ;  the  in- 
dividual was  nothing.  When  Christ  said :  "  What 
shall  it  profit  a  man  if  he  gain  the  whole  world  and 
lose  his  own  soul  ?"  thus  teaching  the  priceless  worth 
of  every  human  being,  he  introduced  a  new  idea  into 
the  world,  which  is  leavening  society.  It  has  manu- 
mitted slaves,  it  has  elevated  woman,  it  has  overthrown 
despotisms  and  written  constitutions,  it  has  swept 
away  privileges  and  abolished  caste.  It  is  bearing 
Europe  onward  to  popular  government.  Is  it  strange 
that  the  liberated  pendulum  should  swing  beyond  the 
position  of  stable  equilibrium'?  Already  are  there 
signs  of  an  excessive  individualism  among  us ;  a  cer- 
tain self-assertion,  a  contempt  of  authority,  which  for- 
gets that  duties  are  co-extensive  with  rights.  Extreme 
socialism  is  only  "individualism  gone  mad."  This 
powerful  movement,  therefore,  toward  individualism, 
and  especially  its  perceptible  tendency  toward  ex- 
tremes, is  favorable  to  the  spread  of  socialism. 

3.  The  prevalence  of  skepticism,  also,  is  significant 
in  this  connection.  A  wide-spread  infidelity  preceded 
the  French  Kevolution,  and  helped  to  prepare  the  way 
for  it.  A  criminal  in  a  prison  on  the  Khine  left,  not 
long  since,  on  the  walls  of  his  cell,  the  following  mes- 
sage for  his  successors:  "I  will  say  a  word  to  you. 
There  is  no  heaven  or  hell.  When  once  you  are  dead 
there  is  an  end  of  everything.  Therefore,  ye  scoun- 


94  PEBILS. SOCIALISM. 

drels,  grab  whatever  you  can ;  only  do  not  let  your- 
selves be  grabbed.  Amen."  Not  only  does  irreligion 
remove  all  salutary  fear  of  retribution  hereafter,  and 
thus  give  over  low-minded  men  to  violence  and  excess  ; 
but,  when  a  man  has  lost  all  portion  in  another  life,  he 
is  the  more  determined  to  have  his  proportion  in  this. 
There  are,  doubtless,  Christian  socialists ;  but  the  In- 
ternationalists are  gross  materialists.  The  socialist, 
Boruttau,  says :  "  No  man  else  is  worthy  of  the  name 
of  socialist  save  he  who,  himself  an  atheist,  devotes  his 
exertions  with  all  zeal  to  the  spread  of  atheism."  The 
great  increase,  therefore,  of  skepticism  in  this  genera- 
tion, and  especially  of  doubt  touching  the  sanctions  of 
the  divine  law,  has  prepared  a  quick  and  fruitful  soil 
for  socialism. 

4.  Equality  is  one  of  the  dreams  of  socialism.  It 
protests  against  all  class  distinctions.  The  develop- 
ment of  classes,  therefore,  in  a  republic,  or  the  widen- 
ing of  the  breach  between  them,  is  provocative  of  so- 
cialistic agitation  and  growth.  Among  the  far-reach- 
ing influences  of  mechanical  invention  is  a  tendency, 
as  yet  unchecked,  to  highten  differences  of  condition, 
to  establish  social  classes,  and  erect  barriers  between 
them.  In  a  sense,  classes  do  and  must  exist  wherever 
there  are  resemblances  and  differences ;  but  so  long  as 
the  individual  members  of  social  classes  easily  rise  or 
fall  from  one  to  the  other,  by  virtue  of  their  own  acts, 
such  classes  are  neither  unrepublican  nor  unsafe.  But, 
when  they  become  practically  hereditary,  differences 
are  inherited  and  increased,  antipathies  are  strength- 
ened, the  gulf  between  them  is  widened,  and  they 
harden  into  casts  which  are  both  unrepublican  and 
dangerous.  Now  the  tendency  of  mechanical  inven- 
tion, under  our  present  industrial  system,  is  to  sepa- 


PEBILS. SOCIALISM.  95 

rate  classes  more  widely,  and  to  render  them  hered- 
itary. 

Before  the  age  of  machinery,  master,  journeymen, 
and  apprentices  worked  together  on  familiar  terms. 
The  apprentice  looked  forward  to  the  time  when  he 
should  receive  a  journeyman's  wages,  and  the  journey- 
man might  reasonably  hope  some  day  to  have  a  shop 
of  his  own.  Under  this  system  there  was  little  oppor- 
tunity to  develop  class  distinctions  and  jealousies. 
Moreover,  there  was  a  great  variety  of  work.  A  black- 
smith, for  instance,  was  not  master  of  his  trade  until 
he  could  make  a  thousand  things,  from  a  nail  to  an 
iron  fence.  There  was  relief  from  monotony,  and 
scope  for  ingenuity  and  taste.  But  machinery  is  in- 
troduced, and  with  it  important  changes.  It  is  dis- 
covered that  the  subdivision  of  labor  both  improves 
and  cheapens  the  product.  And  this  double  advan- 
tage has  stimulated  the  tendency  in  that  direction  until 
a  single  article  that  was  once  made  by  one  workman 
now  passes  through  perhaps  threescore  pairs  of  hands, 
each  doing  a  certain  part  of  the  work  on  every  piece. 
Manchester  workmen,  complaining  of  the  monotony  of 
their  work,  said  to  Mr.  Cook:  "It  is  the  same  thing 
day  by  day,  sir;  it's  the  same  little  thing;  one  little, 
little  thing,  over  and  over  and  over."  Think  of  mak- 
ing pin-heads,  ten  hours^pb  day,  every  working  day  in 
the  week,  for  a  year — twenty,  forty,  fifty  years!  A 
nailer,  in  the  midst  of  a  clatter,  enough  to  drown 
thought,  does  his  day's  work  by  pressing  into  the  jaws 
of  an  ever-ravenous  machine  a  small  bar  of  iron,  which 
he  turns  rapidly  from  side  to  side.  Think  of  making 
that  one  movement  for  a  lifetime  !  Such  dreary  mo- 
notony is  the  most  wearisome  of  all  manual  labor.  It 
admits  of  little  interest  and  no  enthusiasm  in  one's 


^  PERILS. SOCIALISM. 

work ;  and,  worst  of  all,  it  cramps  the  mind  and  belit- 
tles the  man.  Once  the  man  who  made  the  nail  could 
make  the  iron  fence,  also ;  now  he  cannot  even  make 
the  nail,  but  only  feed  a  machine  that  makes  it.  Be- 
yond question,  under  the  minute  division  of  labor,  the 
operative  tends  to  degenerate.  This  truth  is  sadly 
manifest  in  the  manufacturing  towns  of  England. 
Says  Mr.  Emerson  :*  "  The  robust  rural  Saxon  degen- 
erates in  the  mills  to  the  Leicester  stockinger,  to  the 
imbecile  Manchester  spinner — far  on  the  way  to  be 
spiders  and  needles.  The  incessant  repetition  of  the 
same  hand-work  dwarfs  the  man,  robs  him  of  his 
strength,  wit,  and  versatility,  to  make  a  pin-polisher, 
a  buckle-maker,  or  any  other  specialty  ;  and  presently, 
in  a  change  of  industry,  whole  towns  are  sacrificed 
like  ant-hills !"  And  statistics  show  that  the  population 
of  the  manufacturing  departments  of  France,  also,  is 
far  inferior  to  that  of  the  agricultural  departments. 

Under  the  low  wages  of  the  present  industrial  sys- 
tem, there  is  a  strong  tendency  among  operatives  to 
form  an  hereditary  class,  and  thus  degenerate  the 
more.  In  Massachusetts,  where  statistics  of  labor  are 
the  most  elaborate  published,  the  average  working  man 
is  unable  to  support  the  average  working  man's  fam- 
ily. In  1883  the  average  expenses  of  working  men's 
families,  in  that  state,  were  $i54.42,  while  the  earnings 
of  workmen  who  were  heads  of  families  averaged 
$558. 68. |  This  means  that  the  average  working  man 
had  to  call  on  his  wife  and  children  to  assist  in  earn- 
ing their  support.  We  accordingly  find  that,  in  the 
manufactures  and  mechanical  industries  of  the  state, 
in  1883,  there  were  engaged  28,714  children  under  six- 

*  "  English  Traits,"  p.  240. 

t  "  Fifteenth  Annual  Report  of  the  Bureau  of  Statistics,"  p.  464. 


PEBILS. SOCIALISM.  97 

teen  years  of  age.  Of  the  average  wording  man's  fam- 
ily 32.44  per  cent,  of  the  support  fell  upon  the  children 
and  mother.  I  am  not  aware  that  the  condition  of  the 
working  man  is  at  all  exceptional  in  Massachusetts. 
"  In  their  last  report,  the  Illinois  Commissioners  of 
Labor  Statistics  say  that  their  tables  of  wages  and 
cost  of  living  are  representative  only  of  intelligent 
working  men,  who  make  the  most  of  their  advantages, 
and  do  not  reach  '  the  confines  of  that  world  of  helpless 
ignorance  and  destitution  in  which  multitudes  in  all 
large  cities  continually  live,  and  whose  only  statistics 
are  those  of  epidemics,  pauperism,  and  crime.'  Nev- 
ertheless, they  go  on  to  say,  an  examination  of  these 
tables  will  demonstrate  that  one-half  of  these  intelli- 
gent working  men  of  Illinois  '  are  not  even  able  to  earn 
enough  for  their  daily  bread,  and  h^ve  to  depend  upon 
the  labor  of  women  and  children  to  eke  out  their  mis- 
erable existence.'  "*  In  1880,  of  persons  engaged  in 
all  occupations  in  the  United  States,  1,118,356  were 
children  fifteen  years  of  age  or  under. f  Their  num- 
ber, in  ten  years,  increased  21  per  cent,  more  rapidly 
than  the  population.  These  children  ought  to  be 
in  the  school  instead  of  the  mill  or  the  mine.  How 
much  longer  will  the  operatives  of  the  United  States 
be  distinguished  for  their  intelligence  if  our  children 
under  sixteen  are  pressed  into  the  factory?  In  many 
cases  the  body  is  stunted,  the  mind  cramped,  and  the 
morals  corrupted.  A  writer  J  in  the  North  American 
Review,  for  June,  1884,  says  that  in  Pennsylvania 
there  are  "herds  of  little  children  of  all  ages,  from  six 
years  upward,  at  work  in  the  coal  breakers,  toiling  in 

*  Henry  George's  "Social  Problems,"  p.  100. 

t  "  Compendium  of  tne  Tentn  Census,"  Part  II,  p.  1358, 

t  Henry  D.  Lloyd. 


yo  PERILS. SOCIALISM. 

dirt,  and  air  thick  with  carbon  dust,  from  dawn  tc 
dark,  of  every  day  in  the  week  except  Sunday.  These 
coal  breakers  are  the  only  schools  they  know.  A  let- 
ter from  the  coal  regions,  in  the  Philadelphia  Press, 
declares  that  '  there  are  no  schools  in  the  world  where 
more  evil  is  learned,  or  more  innocence  destroyed,  than 
in  the  breakers.  It  is  shocking  to  watch  the  vile  prac- 
tices indulged  in  by  these  children,  to  hear  the  fright- 
ful oaths  they  use,  to  see  their  total  disregard  for  re- 
ligion and  humanity.' "  In  the  upper  part  of  Luzerne 
County  there  are  three  thousand  children,  between  six 
and  fifteen  years  of  age,  at  work  in  this  way.  In  mills 
and  factories  children  are  put  to  feeding  machines, 
and  the  narrow  round  of  work  prevents  a  natural  de- 
velopment of  tl^e  mind.  Girls  brought  up  in  the  fac- 
tories, or  whose  mothers  are  there  employed,  make 
poor  housekeepers,  learn  little  of  those  arts  of  economy 
by  which  the  handful  of  meal  and  the  cruse  of  oil  of 
a  meager  income  waste  not,  neither  fail.  They  make 
poor  wives,  and  keep  their  husbands  poor.  Thus  the 
children  of  another  generation  are  forced  into  the  fac- 
tory. Hence  the  tendency  to  establish  a  class  of  he- 
reditary operatives,  which  classes  are  already  estab- 
lished in  Europe,  and  will  appear  here  in  due  time. 

Moreover,  our  labor  system,  together  with  mechan- 
ical invention,  is  steadily  developing  an  unemployed 
class,  which  furnishes  ready  recruits  to  the  criminal, 
intemperate,  socialistic  and  revolutionary  classes.  Mr. 
Gladstone  estimates  that  manufacturing  power,  by  the 
aid  of  machinery,  doubles  for  the  world  once  in  seven 
years.  Invention  is  liable,  any  day,  to  render  a  given 
tool  antiquated,  and  this  or  that  technical  skill  useless. 
Every  great  labor-saving  invention,  though  it  eventu- 
ally increases  the  demand  for  labor,  temporarily 


PERILS. SOCIALISM.  99 

chrows  great  numbers  out  of  employment.  The 
operative,  who  for  years  has  confined  himself  to  one 
thing,  has,  thereby,  largely  lost  the  power  of  adapta- 
tion. He  cannot  turn  his  hand  to  this  or  that ;  he  is 
very  likely  too  old  to  learn  a  new  trade,  or  acquire  new 
technical  skill ;  he  has  no  alternative ;  and,  unless  an- 
chored by  a  family,  probably  turns  tramp.  Competi- 
tion produces  over-production,  which  results  in  clos- 
ing mills  and  mines  for  long  periods,  thus  swelling  the 
floating  population. 

We  have  seen  that  mechanical  invention  tends  to 
create  an  hereditary  operative  class,  and  an  unem- 
ployed and  floating  population.  It  also  tends,  on  the 
other  hand,  to  create  a  class  of  capitalists  and  monopo- 
lists.* Before  the  age  of  machinery,  manufacturing 
power  was,  of  course,  muscular.  That  power  belonged 
to  the  workmen,  and  could  not  be  monopolized  or  cen- 
tralized without  their  consent.  Every  man  had  a  fair 
chance  to  compete  with  his  fellow ;  no  one  enjoyed  an 
immeasurable  advantage ;  but  machinery  enables  one 
man  to  own  a  power  equal  to  that  of  a  thousand  or 
ten  thousand  men.  Modern  science  and  invention,  in 
subjecting  mighty  forces  of  nature  to  human  control, 
have  made  the  Anakim  our  slaves.  Here  is  an  army 
of  giants  who  never  hunger  and  never  tire,  who  never 
suffer  and  never  complain;  when  ordered  to  stop 
working,  they  never  raise  bread  riots.  They  always 
recognize  their  masters,  and  obey  without  question 
and  without  conscience.  The  availability  and  magni- 

*  After  discussing  these  tendencies  of  modern  manufactures,  De  Tocque- 
ville  advises  the  friends  of  democracy  to  "  keep  their  eyes  anxiously  fixed 
in  this  direction,"  and  adds :  "  For  if  ever  a  permanent  inequality  of  condi- 
tions and  aristocracy  again  penetrate  into  the  world,  it  may  be  predicted 
that  this  is  the  channel  by  which  they  will  enter."  "Democracy  in 
America,"  Book  Second,  Chap.  20. 


100  PERILS. SOCIALISM. 

tude  of  these  forces  make  the  concentration  of  power 
both  certain  and  dangerous.  The  masters  of  these 
forces  are  the  Caesars  and  Napoleons  of  modern 
society.  Within  certain  limits,  other  things  being 
equal,  the  larger  the  manufactory  the  cheaper  the 
product,  and  the  greater  the  percentage  of  profit  on 
the  investment.  This  law  results  in  the  massing  of 
capital.  These  great  enterprises  demand  able  men  to 
organize  and  conduct  them.  The  employer  is  no 
longer  a  workman  with  his  employes;  his  work  is 
mental,  not  manual ;  it  tasks  and  strengthens  all  his 
powers ;  his  faculties  are  developed,  while  those  of  the 
men  who  tend  his  machines  are  cramped.  He  has 
little  personal  acquaintance  with  his  employes,  and, 
with  noble  exceptions,  has  little  personal  interest  in 
them.  Thus  these  classes  grow  apart.  Says  Mr, 
Lecky :  "  Every  change  of  conditions  which  widens 
the  chasm  and  impairs  the  sympathy  between  rich  and 
poor,  cannot  fail,  however  beneficial  may  be  its  effects, 
to  bring  with  it  grave  dangers  to  the  state.  It  is  in- 
contestable that  the  immense  increase  of  manufactur- 
ing population  has  had  this  tendency."*  And  not 
only  are  these  classes  becoming  further  removed  from 
each  other,  they  are  also  becoming  organized  against 
each  other.  Capital  is  combining  in  powerful  corpora- 
tions and  "pools,"  and  labor  is  combining  in  powerful 
trades- unions.  And  these  opposing  organizations 
make  trials  of  strength,  offer  terms  and  conditions  of 
surrender,  like  two  hostile  armies. 

5.  Again,  socialism  fattens  on  discontent.  We  are 
told  that  the  condition  of  working  men  everywhere  has 
vastly  improved  during  the  last  fifty  or  a  hundred  years. 

*  "  England  in  the  Eighteenth  Century,"  Vol.  II,  p.  693. 


PEEILS. SOCIALISM.  101 

If  this  be  true,  it  has  not  prevented  a  rapid  growth  of 
socialism  in  Europe ;  and  tihe  fact  that  American  work- 
men are  better  off  than  European,  will  not  prevent  its 
spread  here.  De  Tocqueville  observed  and  wondered 
that  the  masses  find  their  position  the  more  intolera- 
ble the  more  it  is  improved.  This  is  because  the  man 
improves  faster  than  his  condition ;  his  wants  increase 
more  rapidly  than  his  comforts.  A  savage,  having 
nothing,  is  perfectly  contented  so  long  as  he  wants 
nothing.  The  first  step  toward  civilizing  him  is  to 
create  a  want.  Men  rise  in  the  scale  of  civilization 
only  as  their  wants  rise ;  and,  wherever  a  man  may  be 
on  that  scale,  to  awaken  wants  which  cannot  be  satis- 
fied is  to  provoke  discontent  as  surely  as  if  comforts 
were  taken  from  him.  Macaulay  argues  that  the  nine- 
teenth century  is  the  golden  age  of  England,  rather 
than  the  seventeenth,  because  then,  "noblemen  were 
destitute  of  comforts,  the  want  of  which  would  be  in- 
tolerable to  a  modern  footman,  and  farmers  and  shop- 
keepers breakfasted  on  loaves  the  very  sight  of  which 
would  raise  a  riot  in  a  modern  workhouse/'  and 
especially  because  few  knights  had  "  libraries  as  good 
as  may  now  perpetually  be  found  in  a  servants'  hall, 
or  in  the  back  parlor  of  a  small  shop-keeper."*  The 
evidence  of  progress  is  found  not  so  much  in  the  fact 
that  the  footman  has  a  library  as  that  he  wants  it. 
There  has  been  a  wonderful  "leveling  up"  of  the 
common  people,  and  their  wants  have  risen  accord- 
ingly. It  is  very  true  that  within  a  century  there  has 
been  a  great  multiplication  of  the  comforts  of  life 
among  the  masses ;  but  the  question  is  whether  that 
increase  has  kept  pace  with  the  multiplication  of 
wants.  The  mechanic  of  to-day,  who  has  much,  may 
*  "  History  of  England,"  Chap.  3. 


102  EKBtLS. — SOCIALISM. 

be  poorer  than  his  grandfather,  who  had  little.  A 
rich  man  may  be  poor,  and  a  poor  man  may  be  rich. 
Poverty  is  something  relative,  not  absolute.  I  do  not 
mean  simply  that  a  rich  man  is  poor  by  the  side  of  one 
richer.  That  man  is  poor  who  lacks  the  means  of  sup- 
plying what  seem  to  him  reasonable  wants.  The 
horizon  of  the  working  man,  during  this  century,  has 
been  marvelously  expanded;  there  has  been  a  pro 
digious  multiplication  of  his  wants.  The  peasant  of  a 
few  generations  ago  knew  little  of  any  lot  save  his 
own.  He  saw  an  aristocracy  above  him,  which  enjoyed 
peculiar  privileges;  but  these  were  often  justified  in 
his  eyes  by  superior  intelligence  and  manners.  The 
life  of  the  rich  and  great  was  far  removed  from  him 
and  vague.  He  was  not  discontented  for  lack  of  luxu- 
ries of  which  he  knew  nothing.  But  modern  manu- 
factures and  commerce  and  shop-windows  have  made 
all  luxuries  familiar  to  all  eyes.  The  working  man  of 
to-day  in  the  United  States  has  probably  had  a  com- 
mon school  education,  has  traveled  somewhat,  attended 
expositions,  visited  libraries,  art  galleries  and  museums ; 
through  books  he  has  become  more  or  less  acquainted 
with  all  countries  and  all  classes  of  society ;  he  reads 
the  papers,  he  is  vastly  more  intelligent  than  his 
grandfather  was,  he  lives  in  a  larger  world,  and  has 
many  more  wants.  Indeed,  his  wants  are  as  bound- 
less as  his  means  are  limited.  Education  increases 
the  capability  of  enjoyment;  and  this  capability  is  in- 
creasing among  the  many  more  rapidly  than  the  means 
of  gratification ;  hence  a  growing  popular  discontent. 
There  is  much  dissatisfaction  among  the  masses  of 
Europe.  There  would  be  more  if  there  were  greater 
popular  intelligence.  Place  Americans  in  the  circum- 
stances under  which  the  peasant  of  Continental  Europe 


PEEILS. SOCIALISM.  103 

lives,  and  there  would  be  a  revolution  in  twenty-four 
hours.  Hopeless  poverty,  therefore,  in  the  "United 
States,  where  there  is  greater  intelligence,  will  be 
more  restless,  and  more  easily  become  desperate  than 
in  Europe.  Many  of  our  working  men  are  beginning 
to  feel  that,  under  the  existing  industrial  system,  they 
are  condemned  to  hopeless  poverty.  "We  have  already 
seen  that  the  average  working  man  in  Massachusetts 
and  Illinois  is  unable  to  support  his  family.  At  that 
rate,  how  long  will  it  take  him  to  become  the  owner  of 
a  home  I  Of  males  engaged  in  the  industries  of  Mas- 
sachusetts in  1875,  only  one  in  one  hundred  owned  a 
house.  When  a  working  man  is  unable  to  earn  a  home, 
or  to  lay  by  something  for  old  age,  when  sickness  or 
the  closing  of.  the  factory  for  a  few  weeks,  means  debt, 
is  it  strange  that  he  becomes  discontented  ? 

And  how  are  such  items  as  the  following,  which  ap- 
peared in  the  papers  of  January,  1880,  likely  to  strike 
discontented  laborers?  "The  profits  of  the  Wall  Street 
Kings  the  past  year  were  enormous.  It  is  estimated 
that  Yanderbilt  made  $30,000,000;  Jay  Gould,  $15,000,- 
000 ;  Kussell  Sage,  $10,000,000 ;  Sidney  Dillon,  $10,000,- 
000;  James  K.  Keene,  $8,000,000;  and  three  or  four 
others  from  one  to  two  millions  each ;  making  a  grand 
total  for  ten  or  twelve  estates  of  about  eighty  millions 
of  dollars."  Is  it  strange  if  the  working  man  thinks  he 
is  not  getting  his  due  share  of  the  wonderful  increase 
of  national  wealth  1 

"  There  is,"  says  the  eminent  Professor  Cairnes,  "  a 
constant  growth  of  the  national  capital,  with  a  nearly 
equally  constant  decline  in  the  proportion  of  capital 
which  goes  to  support  productive  labor."  And  this 
can  result,  he  points  out,  only  in  "  a  harsh  separation 
of  classes,  combined  with  those  glaring  inequalities  in 


104  -PEEILS. SOCIALISM- 

the  distribution  of  wealth  which  most  people  will 
agree  are  among  the  elements  of  our  social  insta- 
bility." "Unequal  as  is  the  distribution  of  wealth 
already  in  this  country  (England),  the  tendency  of  in- 
dustrial progress — on  the  supposition  that  the  present 
separation  between  industrial  classes  is  maintained — 
is  toward  an  inequality  greater  still.  The  rich  will  be 
growing  the  richer,  and  the  poor  at  least  relatively 
poorer."*  Professor  Henry  Carter  Adams  says  that 
"  the  benefits  of  the  present  civilization  are  not  im- 
partially distributed,  and  that  the  laborer  of  to-day, 
as  compared  with  the  non-laboring  classes,  holds  a  rel- 
atively inferior  position  to  that  maintained  in  former 
times.  The  laborer  himself  interprets  this  to  mean 
that  the  principle  of  distribution,  which  modern  so- 
ciety has  adopted,  is  unfair  to  him."t  Is  it  strange 
that  working  men  should  agree  with  such  conclusions 
of  political  economists  1 

Many  wage-workers  have  come  to  feel  that  the  capi- 
talist is  their  natural  enemy,  and  that  he  is  always 
ready,  when  opportunity  offers,  to  sacrifice  them  and 
their  families  to  his  selfish  gains.  This  does  the  great- 
est injustice  to  some  employers,  who,  in  times  of  de- 
pression, run  their  factories  for  months  at  a  daily  loss 
to  themselves,  rather  than  throw  their  workmen  out  of 
employment.  But  such  capitalists  are  as  rare  as  they 
are  noble.  More  do  not  hesitate  to  enter  into  combi- 
nations powerful  enough  to  command  the  trade,  and 
then  stop  work  for  weeks  and  months  in  order  to  in- 
flate prices,  already  fair.  In  November,  1883,  the  As- 
sociation of  Nail-makers  ordered  a  suspension  in  order 
to  raise  prices ;  and  for  five  weeks  8,000  workmen  were 

*  Political  Economy. 

t  Quote-i  by  Washington  Gladden,  LL.D.,  in  Century  Magazine  for  Octo* 
ber,  1884,  p.  906. 


PERILS. SOCIALISM.  105 

thrown  out  of  employment,  just  as  winter  was  coming 
on.  Every  mill  in  the  West  was  in  the  "pool";  the 
suffering  workmen,  therefore,  could  not  gain  employ- 
ment by  going  from  one  to  another.  They  had 
learned  to  do  but  one  thing,  and  could  not  turn  their 
hand  to  anything  else.  There  was  nothing  to  do  but 
nurse  their  discontent.  Those  November  and  Decem- 
ber weeks  were  a  good  spring-time  for  sowing  social- 
istic seed.  The  Liverpool  Cotton  Exchange,  three 
years  ago,  by  manipulating  prices,  stopped  15,000,000 
*spindles,  thus  taking  the  bread  out  of  the  mouths  of 
thousands  of  men,  women,  and  children.  The  above 
simply  illustrates  a  strong  tendency  toward  combina- 
tion and  monopoly,  which  is  one  of  the  darkest  clouds 
on  our  industrial  and  social  horizon.  Our  various  in- 
dustries are  combining  to  force  down  production — 
that  means  that  working  men  are  thrown  out  of  em- 
ployment; and  to  force  up  prices — that  means  in- 
creased cost  of  living.  There  are  lumber,  coal,  coke, 
oil,  brick,  nail,  screw,  steel,  rope,  fence-wire,  glass, 
wall-paper,  school  books,  insurance,  hardware,  starch, 
cotton,  and  scores  of  other  combinations,  all  made  in 
the  interest  of  capitalists.  Small  dealers  must  enter 
the  "pool"  or  be  crushed.  Once  in,  they  must  submit 
to  the  dictation  of  the  "  large  "  men.  Thus  power  is 
being  gathered  more  and  more  into  the  hands  of  con- 
scienceless monopolies. 

Adam  Smith  thought  wheat  was  less  liable  than  any 
other  commodity  to  be  monopolized  by  speculators, 
because  "its  owners  can  never  be  collected  in  one 
place."  But  this  supposed  impossibility  is  practically 
overcome  by  the  railway  and  telegraph,  and  now 
Boards  of  Trade  arbitrarily  make  and  unmake  the 
prices  of  food,  and  wheat  is  as  easily  "cornered"  as 


106  PERILS. SOCIALISM. 

anything  else.  A  single  firm  in  Chicago,  five  years 
ago,  gained  control  of  the  pork  market,  more  than 
doubled  the  price,  and  cleared  over  seven  million  dol- 
lars on  a  single  deal,  the  influence  of  which  in  advan- 
cing prices  was  felt  in  every  part  of  the  world.  The 
full  significance  of  such  transactions  is  seen  only  when 
we  consider,  as  has  been  shown  by  Drs.  Drysdale  and 
Farr,  of  England,  that  the  death  rate  rises  and  falls 
with  the  prices  of  food.  When  the  necessaries  of  life 
are  "  too  easily "  secured,  combinations  declare  a  war 
against  plenty,  production  is  stopped,  and  tens  of* 
thousands  are  forbidden  to  earn  while  prices  rise. 
Thus,  in  this  land  of  plenty,  a  few  men  may,  at  their 
pleasure,  order  a  famine  in  thousands  of  homes. 

This  is  modern  and  republican  feudalism.  These 
American  barons  and  lords  of  labor  have  probably 
more  power  and  less  responsibility  than  many  an  olden 
feudal  lord.  They  close  the  factory  or  the  mine,  and 
thousands  of  workmen  are  forced  into  unwilling  idle- 
ness. The  capitalist  can  arbitrarily  raise  the  price  of 
necessaries,  can  prevent  men's  working,  but  has  no  re- 
sponsibility, meanwhile,  as  to  their  starving.  Here  is 
"  taxation  without  representation  "  with  a  vengeance. 
We  have  developed  a  despotism  vastly  more  oppressive 
and  more  exasperating  than  that  against  which  the 
thirteen  colonies  rebelled. 

Working  men  are  apt  to  be  improvident.  It  is  often 
their  own  fault  that  enforced  idleness  so  soon  brings 
want.  Though,  at  times,  they  know  enough  of  want, 
as  a  class  they  know  little  of  self-denial.  They  gen- 
erally live  up  to  the  limit  of  their  means.  If  wages  are 
good,  they  have  the  best  the  market  affords ;  when 
work  and  credit  fail,  they  go  hungry.  Neither  the 
capitalist  nor  the  laborer  has  a  monopoly  of  the  fault 


PEKILS. SOCIALISM.  107 

for  the  difficulties  existing  between  them.  But  our 
inquiry  is  after  facts,  not  faults ;  and  the  fact  of  im- 
providence on  the  part  of  many  working  men  only 
makes  their  discontent  the  deeper  and  more  certain. 

A  communistic  leader,  who  visited  America  thirty 
years  ago,  was  asked  what  he  thought  of  the  condition 
of  the  working  classes  here.  "  It  is  very  bad,"  he  re- 
plied, "  they  are  so  discouragingly  prosperous."  But 
the  growth  of  dissatisfaction  and  of  socialism  among 
our  wage-workers,  in  recent  years,  has  taken  place  not- 
withstanding generally  good  harvests  and  a  great  in- 
crease of  aggregate  wealth.  Poor  harvests  were^potent 
causes  in  bringing  Louis  XYI.  to  the  guillotine,  and 
precipitating  the  Eeign  of  Terror.  We  must,  of  course, 
expect  them  to  occur  as  heretofore,  perhaps  recur  in 
successive  years.  The  condition  of  the  working  man 
will  then  probably  be  bad  enough  to  satisfy  the  most 
pessimistic  agitator.  Every  such  "  winter  of  discon- 
tent "  among  laborers  is  made  "glorious  summer"  for 
the  growth  of  socialistic  ideas. 

We  have  glanced  at  the  causes  which  are  ministering 
to  the  growth  of  socialism  among  us :  a  wide-spread 
discontent  on  the  part  of  our  wage-working  population, 
the  development  of  classes  and  class  antipathies,  and 
the  appearance  of  an  unemployed  class  of  professional 
beggars,  popular  skepticism,  a  powerful  individualism, 
and  immigration.  If  these  conditions  should  remain 
constant,  socialism  would  continue  to  grow  ;  but  it 
should  be  remembered  that  all  of  these  causes,  with  the 
possible  exception  of  skepticism,  are  becoming  more 
active.  Within  the  life-time  of  many  now  living,  pop- 
ulation will  be  four  times  as  dense  in  the  United  States 
as  it  is  to-day.  Wage-workers,  now  one-half  of  all  our 
workers,  will  multiply  more  rapidly  than  the  popula- 


108  PEEILS. SOCIALISM. 

tion.  After  our  agricultural  land  is  all  occupied,  as  it 
will  be  a  few  years  hence,  our  agricultural  population, 
which  is  one  of  the  great  sheet-anchors  of  society 
against  the  socialistic  current,  will  increase  but  little, 
while  great  manufacturing  and  mining  towns  will  go 
on  multiplying  and  to  multiply.  In  the  development 
of  our  manufacturing  industries  and  our  mining  re- 
sources we  have  made,  as  yet,  hardly  more  than  a  be- 
ginning. "When  these  industries  have  been  multiplied 
ten-fold,  the  evils  which  now  attend  them  will  be  cor- 
respondingly multiplied. 

It  must  not  be  forgotten  that,  side  by  side  with  this 
deep  discontent  of  intelligent  and  unsatisfied  wants, 
has  been  developed,  in  modern  times,  a  tremendous 
enginery  of  destruction,  which  offers  itself  to  every 
man.  Since  the  French  Revolution  nitro-glycerine, 
illuminating  gas,  petroleum,  dynamite,  the  revolver, 
the  repeating  rifle  and  the  Gatling  gun  have  all  come 
into  use.  Science  has  placed  in  man's  hand  superhu- 
man powers.  Society,  also,  is  become  more  highly 
organized,  much  more  complex,  and  is  therefore  much 
more  susceptible  of  injury.  There  never  was  a  time  in 
the  history  of  the  world  when  an  enemy  of  society 
could  work  such  mighty  mischief  as  to-day.  The  more 
highly  developed  a  civilization  is,  the  more  vulnerable 
does  it  become.  This  is  pre-eminently  true  of  a  ma- 
terial civilization.  Learning,  statesmanship,  character, 
respect  for  law,  love  of  justice,  cannot  be  blown  up 
with  dynamite  ;  palaces,  factories,  railways,  Brooklyn 
bridges,  Hoosac  tunnels,  and  all  the  long  inventory  of 
our  material  wonders  are  destructible  by  material 
means.  "  The  explosion  of  a  little  nitro-glycerine  un- 
der a  few  water  mains  would  make  a  great  city  unin- 
habitable ;  the  blowing  up  of  a  few  railroad  bridges 


PERILS.— -SOCIALISM.  109 

and  tunnels  would  bring  famine  quicker  than  the  wall 
of  circumvallation  that  Titus  drew  around  Jerusalem; 
the  pumping  of  atmospheric  air  into  the  gas-mains,  and 
the  application  of  a  match  would  tear  up  every  street 
and  level  every  house."*  We  are  preparing  conditions 
which  make  possible  a  Reign  of  Terror  that  would  beg- 
gar the  scenes  of  the  French  Revolution. 

Conditions  at  the  "West  are  peculiarly  favorable  to 
the  growth  of  socialism.  The  much  larger  proportion 
of  foreigners  there,  and  the  strong  tendency  of  immi- 
gration thither,  will  have  great  influence.  There  is  a 
stronger  individuality  in  the  West.  The  people  are 
less  conservative ;  there  is  less  regard  for  established 
usage  and  opinion.  The  greater  relative  strength  of 
Romanism  there  is  significant ;  for  apostate  Catholics 
furnish  the  very  soil  to  which  socialism  is  indigenous. 
Mormonism  also  is  doing  a  like  preparatory  work.  It 
is  gathering  together  great  numbers  of  ill-balanced 
men,  who  are  duped  for  a  time  by  Mormon  mummery ; 
but  many  of  them,  becoming  disgusted,  leave  the  church 
and  with  it  all  faith  in  religion  of  any  sort.  Skeptical, 
soured,  cranky,  they  are  excellent  socialistic  material. 
Irreligion  abounds  much  more  than  at  the  East ;  the 
proportion  of  Christian  men  is  much  smaller.  "  Into 
these  Western  communities  the  international  societies 
and  secret  labor  leagues  and  Jacobin  clubs,  and  athe- 
istic, infidel,  rationalistic  organizations  of  every  name 
in  the  Old  World,  are  continually  emptying  themselves. 
They  are  the  natural  reservoirs  of  whatever  is  uneasy, 
turbulent,  antagonistic  to  either  God  or  man  among 
the  populations  across  the  sea.  They  are  also  the  nat- 
ural places  of  refuge  for  all  in  our  own  country  who  are 
soured  by  misfortune,  misanthropic,  seekers  of  radical 
*  "  Social  Problems."  D.  14. 


110  PERILS. SOCIALISM. 

reforms,  renegades,  moral  pariahs.  They  are  hence,  in 
the  nature  of  things,  a  sort  of  hot-beds  where  every 
form  of  pestilent  error  is  sure  to  be  found  and  to  come 
to  quick  fruitage.  You  can  hardly  find  a  group  of 
ranch-men  or  miners  from  Colorado  to  the  Pacific  who 
will  not  have  on  their  tongue's  end  the  labor  slang  of 
Denis  Kearney,  the  infidel  ribaldry  of  Robert  Ingersoll, 
the  socialistic  theories  of  Karl  Marx."* 

Socialism  makes  few  proselytes  among  farmers.  Less 
than  one-half  of  all  the  lands  West  of  the  Mississippi 
is  arable.  The  agricultural  element,  therefore,  will  be 
a  much  smaller  proportion  of  the  whole  population  in 
the  West  than  in  the  East.  The  industries  of  several 
of  the  great  mountain  states  will  be  almost  wholly 
mining  and  manufacturing ;  nearly  the  whole  popula- 
tion, therefore,  will  be  wage-workers — the  class  most 
easily  discipled  by  socialistic  agitators.  The  capitalist  is 
a  large  figure  in  the  West.  He  owns  the  mines,  he  owns 
vast  reaches  of  grazing  land,  and  the  great  herds  of  cat- 
tle.f  He  has  also  invested  in  many  thousands  of  acres 
of  farming  lands.  Railroads  of  immense  length  have  been 
richly  subsidized  with^Iands  which  will  steadily  appre- 
ciate in  value.  These  corporations  bid  fair  to  become 
much  richer  and  more  powerful  than  like  monopolies 
in  the  East.  The  longest  eastern  roads  would  hardly 
be  considered  more  than  first-rate  side-tracks  out  W^est; 
and  some  day  the  wealth  and  power  of  the  western 
roads  will  be  in  proportion  to  their  length. 

*  Rev.  E.  P.  Goodwin,  D.D.,  Home  Missionary  Sermon,  p.  16. 

t  At  a  meeting  of  cattle  "  kings  "  in  St.  Louis,  last  November,  there  were 
many  associations  represented  which  own  half  a  million  head  of  stock  or 
more.  The  Northern  New  Mexico  Cattle  Grower's  Association  own  800,000 
cattle,  besides  a  large  number  of  horses,  which  graze  over  15,000,000  acres 
of  land.  The  Texas  Live  Stock  Association  own  1,000,000  cattle,  1,000,000 
sheep  and  350,000  horses.  A  moderate  estimate  of  their  value  would  be 


PEBILS. SOCIALISM.  Ill 

There  was  no  immense  disparity  of  fortune  between 
the  early  settlers  of  the  East.  They  started  pretty 
evenly  in  the  race,  and  it  has  taken  several  generations 
to  develop  the  wide  extremes  of  modern  society  ;  but 
these  differences  exist  at  the  outset  in  the  West.  East- 
ern capital  has  emptied  itself  into  Western  mines  and 
herds  and  "  bonanza  "  farms.  The  comparatively  small 
population  of  the  West  has  to-day  more  millionaires 
and  more  tramps  than  the  whole  country  had  a  few 
years  since.  Many  cattle  and  railway  "  kings,"  many 
gold  and  silver"  kings,"  there  rule  their  subjects.  And 
last  August  eighty  tramps  took  possession  of  Castle- 
ton,  Dakota,  drove  many  families  from  their  homes  and 
committed  numerous  excesses.  Western  society  is 
organized  at  the  very  beginning,  on  the  class  distinc- 
tions which  are  so  favorable  to  the  growth  of  social- 
ism. 

Modern  civilization  is  called  on  to  contend  for  its  life 
with  forces  which  it  has  evolved.  Said  President 
Seelye,  last  summer,  to  the  graduating  class  of  Amherst 
College:  "There  is  one  question  of  our  time  to  ward 
which  all  other  questions,  whether  of  nature,  of  man, 
or  of  God,  steadily  tend.  ...  No  one  will  be 
likely  to  dispute  the  affirmation  that  the  social 
question  is,  and  is  to  be,  the  question  of  your 
time."  That  question  must  be  met  in  the  United 
States.  We  need  not  quiet  misgiving  with  the 
thought  that  popular  government  is  our  safety 
from  revolution.  It  is  because  of  our  free  institutions 
that  the  great  conflict  of  socialism  with  society  as  now 
organized  is  likely  to  occur  in  the  United  States. 
There  is  a  strong  disposition  among  men  to  charge 
most  of  the  ills  of  their  lot  to  bad  government,  and  to 
seek  a  political  remedy  for  those  ills.  They  expect  in 


112  PERILS. — WEALTH. 

the  popularization  of  power  to  find  relief.  Constitu- 
tional government,  a  free  press  and  free  speech  would 
probably  quiet  popular  agitation  in  Russia  for  a  gen- 
eration. The  new  Franchise  Bill  will  allay  restlessness 
in  England  for  a  time.  If  Germany  should  become  a 
republic,  we  should  hear  little  of  German  socialism 
for  a  season.  But  all  our  salve  of  this  sort  is  spent ; 
there  are  no  more  political  rights  to  bestow ;  the  peo- 
ple are  in  full  possession.  Here  then,  where  there  is 
the  fullest  exercise  of  political  rights,  will  the  people 
first  discover  that  the  ballot  is  not  a  panacea.  Here, 
where  the  ultimate  evolution  of  government  has  taken 
place,  will  restless  men  first  attempt  to  live  without 
government. 

There  is  nothing  beyond  republicanism  but  anarch- 
ism. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

PERILS. WEALTH. 

The  wealth  of  the  "United  States  is  phenomenal.  In 
1880  it  was  valued  at  $43,642,000,000 ;  more  than 
enough  to  buy  the  Kussian  and  Turkish  Empires,  the 
kingdoms  of  Sweden  and  Norway,  Denmark  and  Italy, 
together  with  Australia,  South  Africa  and  all  South 
America — lands,  mines,  cities,  palaces,  factories,  ships, 
flocks,  herds,  jewels,  moneys,  thrones,  scepters,  dia- 
dems and  all — the  entire  possessions  of  177,000,000 
people.  Great  Britain  is,  by  far,  the  richest  nation  of 


PERILS. — WEALTH.  113 

the  Old  World,  and  our  wealth  exceeds  hers  by  $276,- 
000,000.  The  most  remarkable  point  of  this  compar- 
ison is  the  fact  that  European  wealth  represents  the 
accumulations  of  many  centuries,  while  the  greater 
part  of  ours  has  been  created  in  twenty  years.  In  1860 
our  wealth  was  valued  at  $16,160,000,000.  In  1880  it 
had  increased  170  per  cent.  During  that  period  a  mil- 
lion producers  were  destroyed  by  war,  and  not  only 
were  two  great  armies  withdrawn  from  productive  oc- 
cupations, but  they  devoted  marvelous  energy  and  in- 
genuity to  the  work  of  destruction.  Moreover,  during 
the  same  period,  slaves,  whose  value  was  estimated  in 
1860  at  $1,250,000,000,  disappeared  from  the  assets  of 
the  nation.  But,  notwithstanding  all  this,  our  wealth, 
during  those  twenty  years,  increased  $27,482.000,000 — 
$10,000,000,000  more  than  the  entire  wealth  of  the 
Empire  of  Eussia,  to  be  divided  between  82,000,000 
people.  And  this  increase,  it  should  be  observed,  was 
only  a  small  part  of  the  wealth  created — the  excess 
after  supporting  the  best-fed  people  in  the  world.  To 
the  wealth  of  1870  were  added,  during  the  next  ten 
years,  $19,587,000,000,  an  average  of  $260,000  every 
hour,  night  and  day,  except  Sunday,  or  $6,257,000 
every  week-day  for  the  period.  The  material  progress 
of  the  United  States  from  1870  to  1880  is  wholly  with- 
out a  parallel  in  the  history  of  the  world. 

It  is  difficult  to  realize  that  the  youngest  of  the  na- 
tions is  the  richest,  and  that  the  richest  of  all  nations 
Las,  as  yet,  only  begun  to  develop  its  resources.  Sev- 
en-eighths of  our  arable  land  are  not  under  cultivation, 
and  much  of  our  agriculture  is  rude ;  a  much  larger 
portion  of  our  mineral  wealth  is  undeveloped ;  and  the 
only  limit  which  can  be  set  to  our  possible  manufac- 
tures is  the  world's  need.  Our  domestic  commerce, 


114  PEKtLS. — WEALTH. 

already  $18,000,000,000  *  a  year,  will  double  and  quad- 
ruple with  the  growth  of  population.  Here  are  thirty- 
eight  nations,  so  to  speak — and  soon  to  be  half  a  hun- 
dred— enjoying  perfect  freedom  of  intercourse,  with 
but  one  language  and  one  currency,  with  common  in- 
terests and  common  institutions.  In  Europe,  com- 
merce must  run  a  gauntlet  of  custom-houses,  on  a  score 
of  frontiers,  and  must  stumble  over  thrice  as  many 
languages ;  while  those  nations,  with  conflicting  inter- 
ests and  mutual  jealousies  and  antipathies,  exhaust 
much  of  their  strength  in  watching,  foiling,  and  crip- 
pling each  other.  Europe  spends  annually  on  the 
maintenance  of  fleets  and  armies  nearly  $900,000,000. 
And  this  is  but  little  more  than  one-half  the  actual 
cost ;  for  these  3,000,000  men  and  more  are  withdrawn 
from  industrial  pursuits  in  the  flower  of  their  youth. 
If  the  time  of  privates  is  worth  seventy-five  cents  a  day, 
and  that  of  officers  two  dollars,  the  value  of  labor  an- 
nually lost  to  Europe  by  her  standing  armies  is  $758,- 
978,000.  In  1880,  we  expended  on  our  army  and  navy 
$54,000,000 ;  and,  reckoning  the  time  of  the  private 
soldier  here  worth  a  dollar  and  a  half  a  day,  and  that 
of  the  officer  worth  four  dollars,  the  value  of  the  labor 
lost  by  our  army  in  1880  was  only  $16,000,000.  That 
is,  in  competing  with  Europe  for  wealth,  our  location 
is  worth  to  us  about  $1,588,000,000  a  year.  In  1880 
our  wealth  was  23.93  per  cent,  of  the  wealth  of  all  Eu- 
rope; our  earnings  were  28.01  per  cent,  of  those  of  Eu- 
rope ;  and  our  increase  of  wealth  was  49.28  per  cent, 
of  European  increase.  From  1870  to  1880  there  was 
a  decrease  of  wealth  per  caput,  in  Europe,  of  nearly  3 
per  cent.,  while  here  there  was  an  increase  of  39  per 
cent.  If  existing  conditions  continue,  the  time  will  un- 
*  J.  L.  Stevens,  in  International  Review,  Dec.  1881. 


PERILS. WEALTH.  115 

doubtedly  come  when  the  people  of  the  United  States 
will  possess  more  wealth  than  all  the  nations  of  Eu- 
rope. Our  riches,  together  with  the  power,  the  prob- 
lems and  dangers  which  attend  them,  are  to  be  multi- 
plied many  fold.  Mr.  Gladstone  estimates  that  the 
amount  of  wealth  that  could  be  handed  down  to  pos- 
terity, produced  during  the  first  1800  years  of  the 
Christian  Era,  was  equaled  by  the  production  of  the 
first  fifty  years  of  this  century;  and  that  an  equal 
amount  was  produced  in  the  twenty  years  from  1850  to 
1870.  This  will  not  seem  incredible,  if  we  accept  his 
further  estimate  that  the  manufacturing  power  of  the 
world  is  doubled,  by  the  aid  of  machinery,  every  seven 
years.  Some  thirty  years  ago,  the  power  of  machinery 
in  the  mills  of  Great  Britain  was  computed  to  be  equal 
to*  600,000,000  men,  or  more  than  all  the  adults,  male 
and  female,  of  mankind.  Think  of  such  a  power,  and 
much  greater,  at  work  for  the  enriching  of  our  nation, 
and  that  power  doubled  every  seven  years!  It  is  a 
promise  of  unspeakable  wealth.  And  such  wealth  con- 
tains mighty  possibilities,  both  for  good  and  evil.  Let 
us,  in  this  connection,  look  at  the  latter. 

1.  As  civilization  increases,  wealth  has  more  mean- 
ing, and  money  a  larger  representative  power.  Civili- 
zation multiplies  wants,  which  money  affords  the 
means  of  gratifying.  With  the  growth  of  civilization, 
therefore,  money  will  be  an  ever-increasing  power,  and 
the  object  of  ever-increasing  desire.  Hence  the  dan- 
ger of  Mammonism,  growing  more  and  more  intense? 
and  infatuated.  The  love  of  money  is  the  besetting 
sin  of  commercial  peoples,  and  runs  in  the  very  blood 
of  Anglo-Saxons,  who  are  the  great  wealth-creators  of 
the  world.  Our  soil  is  peculiarly  favorable  to  the 
*  "  Emerson's  Prose  Works,"  Vol.  II.,  p.  236, 


116  PERILS. WEALTH. 

growth  of  this  "root  of  all  evil";  and  for  two  reasons. 
First,  wealth  is  more  easily  amassed  here  than  any- 
where else  in  the  world,  of  which  we  have  already  seen 
sufficient  proof ;  and,  second,  wealth  means  more,  has 
more  power,  here  than  elsewhere.  Every  nation  has 
its  aristocracy.  In  other  lands  the  aristocracy  is  one 
of  birth ;  in  ours  it  is  one  of  wealth.  It  is  useless  for 
us  to  protest  that  we  are  democratic,  and  to  plead  the 
leveling  character  of  our  institutions.  There  is  among 
us  an  aristocracy  of  recognized  power,  and  that  aris- 
tocracy is  one  of  wealth.  No  heraldry  offends  our  re- 
publican prejudices.  Our  ensigns  armorial  are  the 
trademark.  Our  laws  and  customs  recognize  no  noble 
titles  ;  but  men  can  forego  the  husk  of  a  title  who  pos- 
sess the  fat  ears  of  power.  In  England  there  is  an 
eager  ambition  to  rise  in  rank,  an  ambition  as  rarely 
gratified  as  it  is  commonly  experienced.  With  us,  as- 
piration meets  with  no  such  iron  check  as  birth.  A 
man  has  only  to  build  higher  the  pedestal  of  his  wealth. 
He  may  stand  as  high  as  he  can  build.  His  wealth  can- 
not secure  to  him  genuine  respect,  to  be  sure  ;  but,  for 
that  matter,  neither  can  birth.  It  will  secure  to  him 
an  obsequious  deference.  It  may  purchase  political 
distinction.  It  is  power.  In  the  Old  World,  men  com- 
monly live  and  die  in  the  condition  in  which  they  are 
born.  The  peasant  may  be  discontented,  may  covet 
what  is  beyond  his  reach;  but  his  desire  draws  no 
strength  from  expectation.  Heretofore,  in  this  coun- 
try, almost  any  laborer,  by  industry  and  economy, 
might  gain  a  competence,  and  even  a  measure  of 
wealth ;  and,  though  now  we  are  beginning  to  approx- 
imate the  conditions  of  European  labor,  young  men, 
generally,  when  they  start  in  life,  still  expect  to  be- 
come rich ;  and,  thinking  not  to  serve  their  god  for 


PERILS. WEALTH.  117 

naught,  they  commonly  become  faithful  votaries  of 
Mammon.     Thus  the  prizes  of  wealth  in  the  United 
States,  being  at  the  same  time  greater  and  more  easily 
won,  and  the  lists  being  open  to  all  comers,  the  rush  is 
more  general,  and  the  race  more  eager  than  elsewhere 
"  But  they  that  will  be  rich,  fall  into  temptation  and 
a  snare,  and  into  many  foolish  and  hurtful  lusts,  which 
drown  men  in  destruction  and  perdition."*     They  who 
"will  be  rich"  are  tempted  to  resort  to  methods  less 
laborious  and  more  and  more  unscrupulous.     Fierce 
competition  is  leading  to  frequent  adulterations,  and 
many  forms  of  bribery.     It  is  driving  legitimate  busi- 
ness to  illegitimate  methods.     Merchants  offer  prizes 
to  draw  trade,  and  employ  the  lottery  to  enrich  them- 
selves  and  debauch  the  public.     The  growth  of  the 
spirit  of  speculation  is  ominous.  The  salaries  of  clerks, 
the  business  capital,  the  bank  deposits  and  trust-funds 
of  all  sorts  which  disappear  "  on  'change,"  indicate  how 
widespread  is  the  unhealthy  haste  to  be  rich.     And 
such  have  the   methods  of  speculation  become  that 
"  The  Exchange  "  has  degenerated  into  little  better 
than  a  euphemism  for  "  gambling  hell."     "  While  one 
bushel  in  seven  of  the  wheat  crop  of  the  United  States 
is  received  by  the  Produce  Exchange  of  New  York,  its 
traders  buy  and  sell  two  for  every  one  that  comes  out 
of  the  ground.     When  the  cotton  plantations  of  the 
South  yielded  less  than  six  million  bales,  the  crop  on 
the  New  York  Cotton  Exchange  was  more  than  thirty- 
two  millions.     Pennsylvania  does  well  to  run  twenty- 
four  millions  of  barrels  of  oil  in  a  year ;  but  New  York 
City  will  do  as  much  in  two  small  rooms  in  one  week, 
and  the  Petroleum  Exchanges  sold  altogether  last  year 
two  thousand  million  barrels."!     Such  facts  indicate 

•  I  Tim.  vi,  9. 

t  Henry  D.  Lloyd,  North  American  Review ,  Aug.,  1883,  p.  118. 


118  PERILS. WEALTH. 

tow  small  a  portion  of  the  transactions  of  the  '•  Ex- 
change "  is  legitimate  business,  and  how  large  a  pro- 
portion is  simple  gambling.  Mammonism  is  corrupt- 
ing popular  morals  in  many  ways.  Sunday  amusements 
of  every  kind — horse-racing,  base-ball,  theaters,  beer- 
gardens,  steamboat  and  railroad  excursions — are  all 
provided  because  there  is  money  in  them.  Licentious 
literature  floods  the  land,  poisoning  the  minds  of  the 
young  and  polluting  their  lives,  because  there  is  money 
in  it.  Gambling  flourishes  in  spite  of  the  law,  and 
actually  under  its  license,  because  there  is  money  in  it. 
And  that  great  abomination  of  desolation,  that  triumph 
of  Satan,  that  more  than  ten  Egyptian  plagues  in  one 
— the  liquor  traffic — grows  and  thrives  at  the  expense 
of  every  human  interest,  because  there  is  money  in  it. 
Ever  since  greed  of  gold  sold  the  Christ  and  raffled  for 
his  garments,  it  has  crucified  every  form  of  virtue  be- 
tween thieves.  And,  while  Mammonism  corrupts  mor- 
als, it  blocks  reforms.  Men  who  have  favors  to  ask 
of  the  public  are  slow  to  follow  their  convictions  into 
any  unpopular  reform  movement.  They  can  render 
only  a  surreptitious  service.  Their  discipleship  must 
needs  be  secret,  "  for  fear  of  the  "  customers  or  clients 
or  patients.  It  is  Mammonism  which  makes  most  men 
invertebrates.  When  important  Mormon  legislation 
was  pending,  certain  New  York  merchants  telegraphed 
to  members  of  Congress :  "  New  York  sold  $13,000,000 
worth  of  goods  to  Utah  last  year.  Hands  off!"  The 
tribe  of  Demetrius,  the  Ephesian  silversmith,  is  every- 
where ;  men  quick  to  perceive  when  this  their  craft  by 
which  they  have  their  wealth  is  in  danger  of  being  set 
at  naught.  "  Nothing  is  more  timorous  than  a  million 
dollars — except  two  millions." 
Mammonism  ic  also  corrupting  the  ballot-box.  The 


PEEILS. WEALTH.  119 

last  three  presidential  elections  have  shown  that  the 
two  great  political  parties  are  nearly  equal  in  strength. 
The  vast  majority  of  voters  on  both  sides  are  party 
men,  who  vote  the  same  way  year  after  year.  The  re- 
sult of  the  election  is  determined  by  the  floating  vote. 
Of  this,  a  comparatively  small  portion  is  thoroughly 
intelligent  and  conscientious  ;  the  remainder  is,  for  the 
most  part,  without  convictions,  without  principle  and 
thoroughly  venal ;  hence  the  great  temptation  to  brib- 
ery, to  which  both  parties  yield.  And  if  the  two  par- 
ties take  distinct  issue  on  economic  questions — which 
seems  likely — each  believing  that  the  success  of  the 
other  would  involve  great  financial  disaster,  corrup- 
tion money  will  become  an  increasingly  important  po- 
litical factor.  Moreover,  the  influence  of  great  corpo- 
rations, which  so  often  controls  legislation,  is  moneyed 
influence.  That  this  influence  is  likely  to  be  potent  in 
the  United  States  Senate  may  be  inferred  from  its  com- 
position. The  Chicago  Tribune  stated,  last  year,  that 
of  seventy-six  senators,  twenty  were  millionaires,  while 
enough  more  were  connected  with  great  corporations 
to  give  control  to  the  interests  of  concentrated  capi- 
tal. 

2.  Again,  by  reason  of  our  enormous  wealth  and  its 
rapid  increase,  we  are  threatened  with  a  gross  material- 
ism. The  English  epithet  applied  by  Matthew  Arnold 
to  Chicago,  "too  beastly  prosperous,"  has  a  subtile 
meaning,  which  perhaps  was  not  intended  by  the  dis- 
tinguished visitor.  Material  growth  may  be  so  much 
more  vigorous  than  the  moral  and  intellectual  as  to 
have  a  distinctly  brutalizing  tendency.  Life  becomes 
sensuous ;  that  is  deemed  real  which  can  be  seen  and 
handled,  weighed  and  transported ;  and  that  only  has 
value  which  can  be  appraised  in  dollars  and  cents. 


120  PERILS. WEALTH. 

Wealth  was  intended  to  minister  to  life,  to  enlarge  it; 
when  life  becomes  only  a  ministry  to  enlarge  wealth, 
there  is  manifest  perversion  and  degradation.  Says 

Mr.  "Whipple  :*  " there  is  danger  that  the  nation's 

worship  of  labors  whose  worth  is  measured  by  money 
will  give  a  sordid  character  to  its  mightiest  exertions 
of  power,  eliminate  heroism  from  its  motives,  destroy 
all  taste  for  lofty  speculation,  and  all  love  for  ideal 
beauty,  and  inflame  individuals  with  a  devouring  self- 
seeking,  corrupting  the  very  core  of  the  national  life." 
We  have  undoubtedly  developed  a  larger  proportion  of 
men  of  whom  the  above  is  a  faithful  picture  than  any 
other  Christian  nation ;  men  to  whom  Agassiz's  re- 
mark, "  I  am  offered  five  hundred  dollars  a  night  to 
lecture,  but  I  decline  all  invitations,  for  I  have  no  time 
to  make  money,"  is  simply  incomprehensible  ;  it  dazes 
them. 

There  is  a  "balance  of  power"  to  be  preserved  in 
the  United  States  as  well  as  in  Europe.  Our  safety 
demands  the  preservation  of  a  balance  between  our 
material  power  and  our  moral  and  intellectual  power. 
The  means  of  self -gratification  should  not  outgrow  the 
power  of  self-control.  Steam-power  would  have  been 
useless  had  we  not  found  in  iron,  or  something  else,  a 
greater  power  of  resistance.  And,  should  we  discover 
a  motor  a  hundred  times  more  powerful  than  steam,  it 
would  prove  not  only  useless  but  fearfully  destructive, 
unless  we  could  find  a  still  greater  resisting  power. 
Increasing  wealth  will  only  prove  the  means  of  destruc- 
tion, unless  it  is  accompanied  by  an  increasing  power 
of  control,  a  stronger  sense  of  justice,  and  a  more  in- 
telligent comprehension  of  its  obligations. 

There  is  a  certain  unfriendliness  between  the  mate- 

*  "  Character  and  Characteristic.Men,"  p.  142. 


PERILS. WEALTH.  121 

rial  and  spiritual.  The  vivid  apprehension  of  th^  one 
makes  the  other  seem  unreal.  When  the  life  of  the 
senses  is  intense,  spiritual  existence  and  truths  are 
dim;  and  when  St.  Paul  was  exalted  to  a  spiritual 
ecstasy,  the  senses  were  so  closed  that  he  could  not 
tell  whether  he  was  "  in  the  body  or  out  of  the  body." 
A  time  of  commercial  stagnation  is  apt  to  be  a  time  of 
spiritual  quickening,  while  great  material  prosperity 
is  likely  to  be  accompanied  by  spiritual  dearth.  A  poor 
nation  is  much  more  sensitive  to  the  power  of  the  gos- 
pel than  a  rich  one.  So  Christ  taught :  "How  hardly 
shall  they  that  have  riches  enter  into  the  kingdom  of 
God !"  "It  is  easier  for  a  camel  to  go  through  the  eye 
of  a  needle  than  for  a  rich  man  to  enter  into  the  King- 
dom of  God  !"*  Words  as  true  now  as  when  they  were 
first  uttered,  and  harving  a  fuller  meaning  in  the  nine- 
teenth  century  than  in  the  first. 

3.  Again,  great  and  increasing  wealth  subjects  us  to 
all  the  perils  of  luxuriousness.  Nations,  in  their  be- 
ginnings, are  poor  ;  poverty  is  favorable  to  hardihood 
and  industry;  industry  leads  to  thrift  and  wealth; 
wealth  produces  luxury,  and  luxury  results  in  enerva- 
tion, corruption,  and  destruction.  This  is  the  historic 
round  which  nations  have  run.  "Nations  have  de- 
cayed, but  it  has  never  been  with  the  imbecility  of 
age."  f  "  Avarice  and  luxury  have  been  the  ruin  of 
every  great  state."  J  Her  American  possessions  made 
Spain  the  richest  and  most  powerful  nation  of  Europe ; 
but  wealth  induced  luxury  and  idleness,  whence  came 
poverty  and  degradation.  Home  was  never  stronger 
in  all  the  seeming  elements  of  power  than  at  the  mo- 
ment of  her  fall.  She  had  grown  rich,  and  riches  had 
corrupted  her  morals,  rendered  her  effeminate,  and 

*  Mark  x,  23, 25.  t  Charles  Surnner.  t  Livy. 


122  PERILS. WEALTH. 

made  her  an  easy  prey  to  the  lusty  barbarian  of  the 
North.  The  material  splendor  of  Israel  reached  its 
climax  in  the  glory  of  Solomon's  reign,  in  which  silver 
was  made  to  be  in  Jerusalem  as  stones ;  but  it  was  fol- 
lowed by  the  immediate  dismemberment  of  the  king- 
dom. Under  all  that  magnificence,  at  which  even 
Oriental  monarchs  wondered,  was  springing  a  discon- 
tent which  led  to  speedy  revolt.  Bancroft  has  wisely 
said  that  "  Sedition  is  bred  in  the  lap  of  luxury." 

The  influence  of  mechanical  invention  is  to  stimulate 
luxurious  living.  One  man,  by  the  aid  of  steam,  is 
able  to  do  the  work  which  required  two  hundred  and 
fifty  men  at  the  beginning  of  the  century.  The  ma- 
chinery of  Massachusetts  alone  represents  the  labor  of 
more  than  100,000,000  men ;  as  if  one-half  of  all  the 
male  workmen  on  the  globe  had  engaged  in  her  ser- 
vice. When  we  remember  that  this  machinery  is  an 
enormous  producer  of  the  necessaries,  comforts,  and 
luxuries  of  life,  but  is  not  a  consumer  of  the  same,  we 
see  how  immensely  the  average  consumption  per  caput 
has  increased.  As  luxuries  are  thus  cheapened  and 
brought  within  the  reach  of  an  ever- widening  circle, 
there  is  an  increasing  tendency  toward  self-indulgence. 
Herodotus  said :  "  It  is  a  law  of  nature  that  faint- 
hearted men  should  be  the  fruit  of  luxurious  countrie3 ; 
for  we  never  find  that  the  same  soil  produces  delicacies 
and  heroes."  Is  there  not  danger  that  our  civilization 
will  become  tropical?  The  temperate  zone  has  pro- 
duced the  great  nations,  because  in  it  the  conditions  of 
life  have  been  sufficiently  hard  to  arouse  energy  and 
develop  strength.  Where  men  are  pampered  by  na- 
ture, they  sink  to  a  low  level ;  and  where  civilization  is 
of  the  pampering  sort  the  tendency  is  the  same.  By 
means  of  coal,  which  Mr.  Emerson  calls  a  "portable 


PEEILS. WEALTH.  123 

climate,"  together  with  increasing  wealth  and  luxuries, 
we   are   multiplying   tropical   conditions   here  in  the 
-  North. 

The  splendor  of  our  riches  will  doubtless  dazzle  the 
world ;  but  history  declares,  in  the  ruins  of  Babylon 
and  Thebes,  of  Carthage  and  Rome,  that  wealth  has  no 
conserving  power ;  that  it  tends  rather  to  enervate  and 
corrupt.  Our  wonderful  material  prosperity,  which  is 
the  marvel  of  other  nations,  and  the  boast  of  our  own, 
may  hide  a  decaying  core. 

4.  Again,  another  danger  is  the  marked  and  increas- 
ing tendency  toward  a  congestion  of  wealth.  The 
enormous  concentration  of  power  in  the  hands  of  one 
man  is  unrepublican,  and  dangerous  to  popular  insti- 
tutions. The  framers  of  our  government  aimed  to  se- 
cure the  distribution  of  power.  They  were  careful  to 
make  the  several  departments — executive,  legislative, 
and  judicial — operate  as  checks  on  each  other.  An 
executive,  chosen  by  the  people  and  responsible  to 
them,  may  exercise  but  little  authority ;  and  after  a 
short  period  he  must  return  it  to  them.  But  a  money- 
king  may  double,  quadruple,  centuple  his  wealth,  if  he 
can.  He  may  exercise  vastly  more  power  than  the 
governor  of  his  state ;  but  he  is  irresponsible.  He  is 
not  a  constitutional  monarch,  but  a  czar.  He  is  not 
chosen  by  the  people  with  reference  to  his  fitness  to 
administer  so  great  a  trust ;  he  may  lack  utterly  all 
moral  qualifications  for  it.  We  have,  indeed,  some 
rich  men  who  are  an  honor  to  our  civilization ;  but  the 
power  of  many  millions  is  almost  certain  to  find  its 
way  into  strong  and  unscrupulous  hands.  Our  money- 
king  must  not,  after  two  or  four  years,  return  his 
power  to  the  people;  he  has  a  life  tenure  of  office, 
provided  only  his  grip  upon  his  golden  scepter  be 


124  PERILS. — WEALTH. 

strong.  Less  than  thirty  years  ago,  Emerson  wrote 
for  our  wonder :  "  Some  English  private  fortunes  reach, 
and  some  exceed,  a  million  dollars  a  year."  At  least  • 
one  American  has  an  income  of  $1,000,000  a  month ; 
and  others  follow  hard  after  him.  A  list  of  Mr.  Van- 
derbilt's  stocks,  bonds,  and  securities,  makes  his  aggre- 
gate wealth  a  little  over  $201,000,000.  The  assessed 
valuation  of  the  aggregate  property,  real  and  personal, 
of  four  great  states  of  the  Union,  having  a  territory  of 
nearly  350,000  square  miles,  falls  short  of  this  one  for- 
tune by  several  millions  of  dollars.  And  there  are 
fourteen  states  which  separately  return  less  property, 
real  and  personal,  than  this  modern  Midas.  He  owns 
one  two-hundred-and-eighteenth  of  the  wealth  of  the 
nation. 

Superfluity  on  the  one  hand,  and  dire  want  on  the 
other — the  millionaire  and  the  tramp — are  the  comple- 
ment each  of  the  other.  The  classes  from  which  we 
have  most  to  fear  are  the  two  extremes  of  society — the 
dangerously  rich  and  the  dangerously  poor ;  and  the 
former  are  much  more  to  be  feared  than  the  latter. 
Says  Chancellor  Howard  Crosby :  "  The  danger  which 
threatens  the  uprooting  of  society,  the  demolition  of 
civil  institutions,  the  destruction  of  liberty,  and  the 
desolation  of  all,  is  that  which  comes  from  the  rich 
and  powerful  classes  in  the  community."  *  "  The 
great  estates  of  Koine,  in  the  time  of  the  Caesars,  and 
of  France  in  the  time  of  the  Bourbons,  rivaled  those 
of  the  United  States  to-day ;  but  both  nations  were  on 
their  way  to  the  frenzy  of  revolution,  not  in  spite  of 
their  wealth,  but,  in  some  true  sense,  because  of  it."  f 
We  have  seen?  in  the  preceding  chapter,  that  mechan- 

*  North  American  Review,  April,  1883,  p.  346. 
t  Editorial  in  Christian  Union,  Oct.  16th,  1884. 


PERILS. WEALTH.  125 

ical  invention  tends  to  create  operative  and  capitalist 
classes,  and  render  them  hereditary.  It  is  the  ten- 
dency of  our  civilization  to  destroy  the  easy  gradation 
from  poor  to  rich  which  now  exists,  and  to  divide  so- 
ciety into  only  two  classes — the  rich  and  the  compara- 
tively poor.  In  a  new  country  almost  any  one  can  do 
business  successfully,  and  broad  margins  will  save 
him  from  the  results  of  blunders  which  would  else- 
where be  fatal.  But,  with  growing  population  and  in- 
creasing facilities  of  communication,  competition  be- 
comes severe,  and  then  a  slight  advantage  makes  the 
difference  between  success  and  failure.  Accumulated 
capital  is  not  a  slight,  but  an  immense,  advantage. 
"To  him  that  hath,  shall  be  given."  There  will, 
therefore,  be  an  increasing  tendency  toward  the  cen- 
tralization of  great  wealth  in  corporations,  which  will 
simply  eat  up  the  small  manufacturers  and  the  small 
dealers.  As  the  two  classes  of  rich  and  poor  grow 
more  distinct,  they  will  become  more  estranged,  and 
whether  the  rich,  like  Sydney  Smith,  come  to  regard 
poverty  as  "infamous,"  it  is  quite  certain  that  many  of 
the  poor  will  look  upon  wealth  as  criminal. 

"We  have  traced  some  of  the  natural  tendencies  of 
great  and  increasing  wealth.  It  should  be  observed 
that  these  tendencies  will  grow  stronger,  because 
wealth  is  increasing  much  more  rapidly  than  popula- 
tion. Remarkable  as  the  growth  of  the  latter  is,  it  be- 
ing four  times  the  European  rate  of  increase  from  1870 
to  1880,  and  three  times  that  of  England  or  Germany, 
the  multiplication  of  wealth  has  been  even  more  re- 
markable. Since  1850,  in  one  generation,  our  national 
wealth  has  increased  more  than  six  fold,  and,  notwith- 
standing the  growth  of  population,  the  wealth  per 
caput  has  increased  nearly  three  fold.  There  is  reason 


126  !>EErLS. WEALTH. 

to  believe  that  this  rate  of  increase  will  be  sustained 
for  years  to  come.  If  it  is,  the  danger  from  Mammon- 
ism,  materialism,  luxuriousness,  and  the  congestion  of 
wealth  will  be  a  constantly  increasing  peril. 

It  remains  to  be  shown  that  the  dangers  of  wealth 
are  greater  at  the  West  than  at  the  East.  There  is 
more  of  Mammonism  there.  With  rare  exceptions,  the 
West  is  being  filled  with  a  selected  population,  and  the 
principle  of  selection  is  the  desire  to  better  their 
worldly  condition.  Nineteen  men  of  every  twenty  (and 
the  twentieth  is  either  an  invalid  or  a  home  mission- 
ary) will  tell  you  that  they  went  there  for  the  express 
purpose  of  making  money.  Where  land  is  being  rap- 
idly taken,  and  real  estate  of  all  sorts  is  rapidly  appre- 
ciating in  value,  men  make  every  possible  present  en- 
deavor with  reference  to  the  future.  Under  such  con- 
ditions the  race  after  wealth  becomes  peculiarly  eager. 
The  gambling  spirit  which  always  prevails  in  mining 
regions  exerts  a  wide  influence,  even  in  agricultural 
states.  Farmers  often  rent  land,  put  their  entire  cap- 
ital into  a  great  acreage,  and  stake  everything  on  a 
single  crop.  The  sudden  wealth  often  realized  in  the 
mines  stimulates  the  general  haste  to  be  rich.  And 
where  riches  are  almost  the  sole  object  of  endeavor, 
their  possession  gives  greater  power.  In  the  Rocky 
Mountains  a  man  may  be  to-day  a  caterer  or  bar- 
tender, fit  for  that  and  nothing  more;  to-morrow, 
without  any  good  wit  of  his  own,  a  millionaire ;  next 
day,  because  "Mammon  wins  his  way  where  seraphs 
might  despair,"  a  lieutenant-governor  or  United  States 
senator.  The  demoralizing  atmosphere  of  the  New 
West  is  seen  in  the  fact  that  there  are  everywhere 
church-members  who  seem  to  have  left  their  religion 
behind  when  they  crossed  the  Missouri.  Many  men 


PERILS. WEALTH.  127 

who  lived  reputable  Christian  lives  in  the  East  are  there 
swept  into  the  great  maelstrom  of  worldliness. 

As  a  comment  on  our  gross  materialism  here  in  the 
United  States,  and  especially  in  the  far  "West,  I  will 
quote  a  short  passage  from  the  note-book  of  the  mu- 
sician, Gottschalk.  Being  ill  for  three  days  in  a  town 
in  Nevada,  and  finding  himself  utterly  deserted,  he 
gives  vent  to  his  feelings  in  these  words:  "I  defy 
your  finding,  in  the  whole  of  Europe,  a  village  where 
an  artist  of  reputation  would  find  himself  as  isolated 
as  I  have  been  here.  If,  in  place  of  playing  the  piano, 
of  having  composed  two  or  three  hundred  pieces,  of 
having  given  seven  or  eight  thousand  concerts,  of  hav- 
ing given  to  the  poor  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
dollars,  of  having  been  knighted  twice,  I  had  sold  suc- 
cessfully for  ten  years  quarters  of  salted  hog,  my  poor, 
isolated  chamber  would  have  been  invaded  by  adorers 
and  admirers." 

There  is  more  danger  of  luxuriousness  at  the  "West, 
a  greater  extravagance  than  among  Eastern  people  of 
like  means.  Money  comes  faster  and  goes  faster. 
There  is  little  of  that  strict  economy  which  is  so  often 
practiced  at  the  East.  A  western  town  of  ten  thous- 
and inhabitants  will  boast  of  "  carrying  all  the  style" 
of  an  eastern  city  of  fifty  thousand.  New  villages  are 
likely  to  have  more  electric  lights  and  telephones  than 
many  of  the  great  cities  of  Europe.  The  millionaires 
of  the  West  v,  ere  not  many  of  them  born  to  wealth. 
They  have  made  their  riches  within  a  few  years ;  and 
such  are  the  men  to  spend  money  freely.  They  be- 
come the  social  legislators,  and  help  to  create  customs 
of  free  expenditure. 

The  striking  centralization  of  capital  which  has  al- 
ready taken  place  at  the  West  was  sufficiently  noticed 


128  PERILS. THE   CITY. 

in  the  preceding  chapter.  Enough  has  been  said  to 
show  that  the  West  is  peculiarly  exposed  to  the  dan- 
gers with  which  wealth  threatens  the  nation. 


CHAPTEE  X. 


PERILS. THE    CITY. 

The  city  is  the  nerve  center  of  our  civilization.  It 
is  also  the  storm  center.  The  fact,  therefore,  that  it  is 
growing  much  more  rapidly  than  the  whole  population 
is  full  of  significance.  In  1790  one-thirtieth  of  the 
population  of  the  United  States  lived  in  cities  of  8,000 
inhabitants  and  over;  in  1800,  one  twenty-fifth;  in 
1810,  and  also  in  1820,  one-twentieth ;  in  1830,  one 
sixteenth;  in  1840,  one-twelfth;  in  1850,  one-eighth; 
in  1860,  one-sixth ;  in  1870,  a  little  over  one-fifth ;  and 
in  1880,  22.5  per  cent.,  or  nearly  one-fourth.*  From 
1790  to  1880  the  whole  population  increased  twelve 
fold,  the  urban  population  eighty-six  fold.  From  1830 
to  1880  the  whole  population  increased  a  little  less 
than  four  fold,  the  urban  population  thirteen  fold. 
From  1870  to  1880  the  whole  population  increased 
thirty  per  cent.,  the  urban  population  forty  per  cent. 
During  the  half  century  preceding  1880,  population  in 
the  city  increased  more  than  four  times  as  rapidly  as 
that  of  the  village  and  country.  In  1800  there  were 

*  "  Compendium  of  tne  Tenth  Cengus,"  Part  1.,  pp.  xxx  and  8. 


PERILS. THE   CITY.  129 

only  six  cities  in  the  United  States  which  had  a  popu- 
lation of  8,000  or  more.     In  1880  there  were  286. 

The  city  has  become  a  serious  menace  to  our  civili- 
zation, because  in  it,  excepting  Mormonism,  each  of 
the  dangers  we  have  discussed  is  enhanced,  and  all  are 
focalized.  It  has  a  peculiar  attraction  for  the  immi- 
grant. Our  fifty  principal  cities  contain  39.3  per  cent, 
of  our  entire  German  population,  and  45.8  per  cent,  of 
the  Irish.  Our  ten  larger  cities  contain  only  nine  per 
cent,  of  the  entire  population,  but  23  per  cent,  of  the 
foreign.  While  a  little  less  than  one-third  of  the  pop- 
ulation of  the  "United  States  is  foreign  by  birth  or 
parentage,  sixty-two  per  cent,  of  the  population  of  Cin- 
cinnati are  foreign,  eighty-three  per  cent,  of  Cleveland, 
sixty-three  per  cent,  of  Boston,  eighty-eight  per  cent,  of 

New  York,  and  ninety-one  per  cent,  of  Chicago.* 

Because  our  cities  are  so  largely  foreign,  Eomanism 
finds  in  them  its  chief  strength. 

For  the  same  reason  the  saloon,  together  with  the 
intemperance  and  the  liquor  power  which  it  repre- 
sents, is  multiplied  in  the  city.  East  of  the  Missis- 
sippi there  was,  in  1880,  one  saloon  to  every  438  of  the 
population ;  in  Boston,  one  to  every  329 ;  in  Cleveland, 
one  to  every  192 ;  in  Chicago,  one  to  every  179 ;  in 
New  York,  one  to  every  171;  in  Cincinnati,  one  to 
every  124.  Of  course  the  demoralizing  and  pauper- 
izing power  of  the  saloons  and  their  debauching  influ- 
ence in  politics  increase  with  their  numerical  strength. 
It  is  the  city  where  wealth  is  massed  ;  and  here  are 

*  The  Compendium  of  the  Tenth  Census  gives  the  number  of  persons, 
foreign-born,  in  each  of  the  fifty  principal  cities,  but  does  not  give  the 
native-born  population  of  foreign  parentage.  We  are  enabled  to  compute 
it,  however,  by  knowing  that  the  total  number  of  foreigners  and  their 
children  of  the  first  generation  is,  according  to  the  Census,  2.24  times  larger 
than  the  total  number  of  foreign-bom. 


130  PERILS. THE   CITY. 

the  tangible  evidences  of  it  piled  many  stories  high. 
Here  the  sway  of  Mammon  is  widest,  and  his  worship 
the  most  constant  and  eager.  Here  are  luxuries 
gathered — everything  that  dazzles  the  eye,  or  tempts 
the  appetite ;  here  is  the  most  extravagant  expendi- 
ture.  Here,  also,  is  the  congestion  of  wealth  the  se- 
verest.  Dives  and  Lazarus  are  brought  face  to  face ; 
here,  in  sharp  contrast,  are  the  ennui  of  surfeit  and 
the  desperation  cf  starvation.  The  rich  are  richer,  and 
the  poor  are  poorer.,  in  the  city  than  elsewhere ;  and, 
as  a  rule,  the  greater  the  city,  the  greater  are  the 
riches  of  the  rich  and  the  poverty  of  the  poor.  Not 
only  does  the  proportion  of  the  poor  increase  with  the 
growth  of  the  city,  but  their  condition  becomes  more 
wretched.  The  poor  of  a  city  of  8,000  inhabitants  are 
well  off  compared  with  many  in  New  York ;  and  there 
are  no  such  depths  of  woe,  such  utter  and  heart-wring- 
ing wretchedness  in  New  York  as  in  London.  Bead 
in  "  The  Bitter  Cry  of  Outcast  London,"  a  prophecy  of 
what  will  some  day  be  seen  in  American  cities,  pro- 
vided existing  tendencies  continue:  "Few  who  will 
read  these  pages  have  any  conception  of  what  these 
pestilential  human  rookeries  are,  where  tens  of  thou- 
sands are  crowded  together  amidst  horrors  which  call 
to  mind  what  we  have  heard  of  the  middle  passage  of 
the  slave-ship.  To  get  into  them  you  have  to  pene- 
trate courts  reeking  with  poisonous  and  malodorous 
gases,  arising  from  accumulations  of  sewage  and  refuse 
scattered  in  all  directions,  and  often  flowing  beneath 
your  feet ;  courts,  many  of  them  which  the  sun  never 
penetrates,  which  are  never  visited  by  a  breath  of  fresh 
air.  You  have  to  ascend  rotten  staircases,  grope 
your  way  along  dark  and  filthy  passages  swarming 
with  vermin.  Then,  if  you  are  not  driven  back  by 


3PE&ILS. THE   CITY.  131 

the  intolerable  stench,  you  may  gain  admittance  to 
the  dens  in  w!  ioh  these  thousands  of  beings  herd  to- 
gether. Eight  feet  square  !  That  is  about  the  aver- 
age size  of  very  many  of  these  rooms.  Walls  and  ceil- 
ing are  black  with  the  accretions  of  filth  which  have 
gathered  upon  them  through  long  years  of  neglect. 
It  is  exuding  through  cracks  in  the  boards;  it  is  every- 
where. .  .  .  Every  room  in  these  rotten  and  reeking 
tenements  houses  a  family,  often  two.  In  one  cellar,  a 
sanitary  inspector  reports  finding  a  father,  mother, 
three  children,  and  four  pigs.  .  .  .  Mere  are  seven 
people  living  in  one  underground  kitchen,  and  a  little 
dead  child  lying  in  the  same  room.  Elsewhere  is  a 
poor  widow,  her  three  children,  and  a  child  who  had 
been  dead  thirteen  days.*  Her  husband,  who  was  a 
cabman,  had  shortly  before  committed  suicide.  .  .  . 
In  another  apartment,  nine  brothers  and  sisters,  from 
twenty-nine  years  of  age  downwards,  live,  eat,  and 
sleep  together.  Here  is  a  mother  who  turns  her  chil- 
dren into  the  street  in  the  early  evening,  because  she 
lets  her  room  for  immoral  purposes  until  long  after 
midnight,  when  the  poor  little  wretches  creep  back 
again,  if  they  have  not  found  some  miserable  shelter 
elsewhere.  "Where  there  are  beds,  they  are  simply 
heaps  of  dirty  rags,  shavings,  or  straw;  but  for  the 
most  part  these  miserable  beings  find  rest  only  upon 
the  filthy  boards.  .  .  .  There  are  men  and  women 
who  lie  and  die,  day  by  day,  in  their  wretched  single 
rr  jm,  sharing  all  the  family  trouble,  enduring  the  hun- 
ger and  the  cold,  and  waiting,  without  hope,  without  a 
single  ray  of  comfort,  until  God  curtains  their  staring 
eyes  with  the  merciful  film  of  death. "f  Says  the 

*  The  investigations  here  reported  were  made  in  the  summer. 
\  "  The  Bitter  Cry  of  Outcast  London,"  pp.  3,  4, 10, 


132  PERILS. THE   CITT. 

writer :  "  So  far  from  making  the  most  of  our  facts  for 
the  purpose  of  appealing  to  emotion,  we  have  been 
compelled  to  tone  down  everything,  and  wholly  to 
omit  what  most  needs  to  be  known,  or  the  ears  and 
eyes  of  our  readers  would  have  been  insufferably  out- 
raged. Indeed,  no  respectable  printer  would  print, 
and  certainly  no  decent  family  would  admit,  even  the 
driest  statement  of  the  horrors  and  infamies  dis- 
covered in  one  brief  visitation  from  house  to  house." 
Such  are  the  conditions  under  which  hundreds  of 
thousands  live  in  London.  So  much  space  is  given  to 
this  picture,  only  because  London  is  a  future  New 
York,  or  Brooklyn,  or  Chicago.  It  gives  a  very  dim 
impression  of  what  may  exist  in  a  great  city  side  by 
side  with  enormous  wealth.  Is  it  strange  that  such 
conditions  arouse  a  blind  and  bitter  hatred  of  our 
social  system  ? 

Socialism  not  only  centers  in  the  city,  but  is  almost 
confined  to  it ;  and  the  materials  of  its  growth  are 
multiplied  with  the  growth  of  the  city.  Here  is  heaped 
the  social  dynamite ;  here  roughs,  gamblers,  thieves, 
robbers,  lawless  and  desperate  men  of  all  sorts,  congre- 
gate ;  men  who  are  ready  on  any  pretext  to  raise  riots 
for  the  purpose  of  destruction  and  plunder;  here 
gather  foreigners  and  wage-workers ;  here  skepticism 
and  irreligion  abound ;  here  inequality  is  the  greatest 
and  most  obvious,  and  the  contrast  between  opulence 
and  penury  the  most  striking  ;  here  is  suffering  the 
sorest.  As  the  greatest  wickedness  in  the  world  is  !  o 
be  found  not  among  the  cannibals  of  some  far  oft 
coast,  but  in  Christian  lands  where  the  light  of  truth  is 
diffused  and  rejected,  so  the  utmost  depth  of  wretched- 
ness exists  not  among  savages,  who  have  few  wants, 
but  in  great  cities,  where,  in  the  presence  of  plenty  and 


PEEILS. THE    CITY.  133 

of  every  luxury  men  starve.  Let  a  man  become  the 
owner  of  a  home,  and  he  is  much  less  susceptible  to 
socialistic  propagandism.  But  real  estate  is  so  high  in 
the  city  that  it  is  almost  impossible  for  a  wage-worker 
to  become  a  householder.  The  law  in  New  York  re- 
quires a  juror  to  be  owner  of  real  or  personal  property 
valued  at  not  less  than  two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  ; 
and  this,  the  Commissioner  says,  relieves  seventy  thous- 
and of  the  registered  voters  of  New  York  City  from 
jury  duty.  Let  us  remember  that  those  seventy  thous- 
and voters  represent  a  population  of  two  hundred  and 
eighty  thousand,  or  fifty-six  thousand  families,  not  one 
of  which  has  property  to  the  value  of  two  hundred  and 
fifty  dollars.  "  During  the  past  three  years,  220,976 
persons  in  New  York  have  asked  for  outside  aid  in  one 
form  or  another."*  Said  a  New  York  Supreme  Judge, 
not  long  since :  "  There  is  a  large  class — I  was  about 
to  say  a  majority — of  the  population  of  New  York  and 
Brooklyn,  who  just  live,  and  to  whom  the  rearing  of 
two  or  more  children  means  inevitably  a  boy  for  the 
penitentiary,  and  a  girl  for  the  brothel,  "f  Under  such 
conditions  smolder  the  volcanic  fires  of  a  deep  discon- 
tent. 

We  have  seen  how  the  dangerous  elements  of  our  civ- 
ilization are  each  multiplied  and  all  concentered  in  the 
city.  Do  we  find  there  the  conservative  forces  of  so- 
ciety equally  numerous  and  strong?  Here  are  the 
tainted  spots  in  the  body-politic ;  where  is  the  salt  f  In 
1880  there  was  in  the  United  States  one  Evangelical 
church  organization  to  every  516  of  the  population.  In 
Boston  there  is  one  church  to  every  1,600  of  the  popu- 
lation ;  in  Chicago,  one  to  2,081 ;  in  New  York,  one  to 

*  Mrs.  J.  S.  Lowell,  in  The  Christian  Union,  March  26th,  1385. 
t  Henry  George's  "  Social  Problems,"  p.  9& 


134  PEBILS. — THE   CITt. 

2,468;  in  St.  Louis,  one  to  2,800.  The  city,  where 
the  forces  of  evil  are  massed,  and  where  the  need  of 
Christian  influence  is  peculiarly  great,  is  from  one- 
third  to  one-fifth  as  well  supplied  u  ith  churches  as  the 
nation  at  large.  And  church  accommodations  in  the 
city  are  growing  more  inadequate  every  year.  Includ- 
ing church  organizations  of  all  sorts,  Chicago  had  in 
1840  one  church  to  every  747  of  the  population.  In 
1851,  there  was  one  to  every  1,009;  in  1862,  one  to 
1,301;  in  1870,  one  to  1,599;  in  1880,  one  to  2,081.  I 
am  not  aware  that  the  case  of  Chicago  is  exceptional. 
In  that  city  "  There  is  a  certain  district,  of  which  a 
careful  examination  has  been  made;  and  in  that  dis- 
trict, out  of  a  population  of  50,000,  there  are  20,000 
under  twenty  years  of  age,  and  there  are  Sunday- 
school  accommodations  for  less  than  2,000;  that  is, 
over  18,000  of  the  children  and  youth  are  compelled  to 
go  without  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ,  because  the 
Christian  churches  are  asleep.  Mr.  Gates  says: 
'  What  wonder  that  the  polioe  arrested  last  year  7,200 
boys  and  girls  for  various  petty  crimes  ?'  The  devil 
cares  for  them.  There  are  261  saloons  and  dago  shops, 
three  theaters  and  other  vile  places,  and  the  Christian 
church  offers  Sunday-school  accommodation  to  only 
2,000  !"*  The  writer  has  found  similar  destitution  in 
the  large  cities  of  Ohio.  And  the  statistics  given  above 
indicate  that  in  the  large  cities  generally  it  is  common 
to  find  ex'  ensive  districts  nearly  or  quite  destitute  of  the 
gospel.  South  of  Fourteenth  street,  New  York,  there  is 
a  population  of  541,000,  for  whom  there  is  but  one 
Protestant  church  to  every  5,000  souls.  That  is,  here 
are  half  a  million  people  only  one-tenth  as  well  sup- 
plied with  moral  and  Christian  influences  as  the  whole 

*  Rev.  H.  A.  Scfcauffier'8  Address  at  Saratoga,  June,  1884. 


PERILS. — THE   CITY.  135 


country  at  large.  There  are  wards  in  New  York  and  other 
large  cities  where  there  is  but  one  Protestant  church  to 
every  ten  or  fifteen  thousand  souls :  which  means  that  those 
wards  are  from  one-twentieth  to  one-thirtieth  as  well  sup- 
plied with  churches  as  the  whole  land.  In  Ohio,  even  includ- 
iDg  the  cities,  more  than  one-fifth  of  the  population  is  in 
Evangelical  churches;  in  Cincinnati,  by  the  latest  estimate 
of  the  population,  only  one  in  twenty-three. 

If  moral  and  religious  influences  are  peculiarly  weak 
at  the  point  where  our  social  explosives  are  gathered, 
what  of  city  government  f  Are  its  strength,  and  purity 
so  exceptional  as  to  insure  the  effective  control  of  these 
dangerous  elements  1  In  the  light  of  notorious  facts, 
the  question  sounds  satirical.  It  is  commonly  said  in 
Europe,  and  sometimes  acknowledged  here,  that  the 
government  of  large  cities  in  the  United  States  is  a 
failure.  "  In  all  the  great  American  cities  there  is  to- 
day as  clearly  defined  a  ruling  class  as  in  the  most 
aristocratic  countries  in  the  world.  Its  members  carry 
wards  in  their  pockets,  make  up  the  slates  for  nominat- 
ing conventions,  distribute  offices  as  they  bargain  to- 
gether, and — though  they  toil  not,  neither  do  they 
spin — wear  the  best  of  raiment  and  spend  money  lav- 
ishly. They  are  men  of  power,  whose  favor  the  am- 
bitious must  court,  and  whose  vengeance  he  must 
avoid.  Who  are  these  men  1  The  wise,  the  good,  the 
learned — men  who  have  earned  the  confidence  of  their 
fellow-citizens  by  the  purity  of  their  lives,  the  splen- 
dor of  their  talents,  their  probity  in  public  trusts,  their 
deep  study  of  the  problems  of  government?  No; 
they  are  gamblers,  saloon-keepers,  pugilists,  or  worse, 
who  have  made  a  trade  of  controlling  votes  and  of 
buying  and  selling  offices  and  official  acts."t  It  has 
t  "  Progress  ana  Poverty."  p.  382, 


136  PERILS. THE   CITY. 

come  to  this,  that  holding  a  municipal  office  in  a  large 
city  almost  impeaches  a  man's  character.  Known  in- 
tegrity and  competency  hopelessly  incapacitate  a  man 
for  any  office  in  the  gift  of  a  city  rabble.  In  a  certain 
western  city,  the  administration  of  the  mayor  had  con- 
vinced good  citizens  that  he  gave  constant  aid  and 
comfort  to  gamblers,  thieves,  saloon-keepers,  and  all 
the  worst  elements  of  society.  He  became  a  candidate 
for  a  second  term.  The  prominent  men  and  press  of 
both  parties  and  the  ministry  of  all  denominations 
united  in  a  Citizens'  League  to  defeat  him ;  but  he  was 
triumphantly  returned  to  office  by  the  "  lewd  fellows 
of  the  baser  sort."  And  now,  after  a  desperate  strug- 
gle on  the  part  of  the  better  elements  to  defeat  him, 
he  has  been  re-elected  to  a  third  term  of  office. 

Popular  government  in  the  city  is  degenerating  into 
government  by  a  "boss."  During  his  visit  to  this 
country  Herbert  Spencer  said  :  "  You  retain  the  forms 
of  freedom ;  but,  so  far  as  I  can  gather,  there  has  been 
a  considerable  loss  of  the  substance.  It  is  true  that 
those  who  rule  you  do  not  do  it  by  means  of  retainers 
armed  with  swords ;  but  they  do  it  through  regiments 
of  men  armed  with  voting  papers,  who  obey  the  word 
of  command  as  loyally  as  did  the  dependents  of  the 
old  feudal  nobles,  and  who  thus  enable  their  leaders  to 
override  the  general  will,  and  make  the  community  sub- 
mit to  their  exactions  as  effectually  as  their  prototypes 
of  old.  Manifestly  those  who  framed  your  Constitution 
never  dreamed  that  twenty  thousand  citizens  would  go 
to  the  polls  led  by  a  'boss.' " 

As  a  rule,  our  largest  cities  are  the  worst  governed. 
It  is  natural,  therefore,  to  infer  that,  as  our  cities  grow 
larger  and  more  dangerous,  the  government  will  be- 
come more  corrupt,  and  control  will  pass  more  com- 


PERILS. THE   CITY.  137 

pletely  into  the  hands  of  those  who  themselves  most 
need  to  be  controlled.  If  we  would  appreciate  the  sig- 
nificance of  these  facts  and  tendencies,  we  must  bear 
in  mind  that  the  disproportionate  growth  of  the  city 
is  undoubtedly  to  continue,  and  the  number  of  great 
cities  to  be  largely  increased.  The  extraordinary 
growth  of  urban  population  during  this  century  has 
not  been  at  all  peculiar  to  the  United  States.  It  is  a 
characteristic  of  nineteenth  century  civilization.  In 
England  and  "Wales  two-thirds  of  the  entire  popula- 
tion are  found  in  cities  of  3,000  inhabitants  and  over, 
and  the  urban  population  is  growing  nearly  twice  as 
rapidly  as  that  of  the  country.  And  this  growth  of  the 
city  is  taking  place  not  only  in  England  and  Germany, 
where  the  increase  of  population  is  rapid,  but  also  in 
France,  where  population  is  practically  stationary,  and 
even  in  Ireland,  where  it  is  declining.  This  strong 
tendency  toward  the  city  is  the  result  chiefly  of  manu- 
facturers and  railway  communication,  and  their  influ- 
ence will,  of  course,  continue.  If  the  growth  of  the 
city  in  the  United  States  has  been  so  rapid  during  this 
century,  while  many  millions  of  acres  were  being  set- 
tled, what  may  be  expected  when  the  settlement  of  the 
West  has  been  completed?  The  rapid  rise  in  the  value 
of  lands  will  stimulate  yet  more  the  growth  of  the  city ; 
for  the  man  of  small  means  will  be  unable  to  command 
a  farm,  and  the  town  will  become  his  only  alternative. 
When  the  public  lands  are  all  taken,  immigration, 
though  it  will  be  considerably  restricted  thereby,  will 
continue,  and  will  crowd  the  cities  more  and  more. 
This  country  will  undoubtedly  have  a  population  of 
several  hundred  millions,  for  the  simple  reason  that  it 
is  capable  of  sustaining  that  number.  And  it  looks  as 
if  ibe  larger  proportion  of  it  would  be  urban.  There 


138  PEEILS. THE    CITY. 

can  be?  no  indefinite  increase  of  our  agricultural  popu- 
lation. Its  growth  must  needs  be  slow  after  the  farms 
are  all  taken,  and  it  is  necessarily  limited;  but  the 
cities  may  go  on  doubling  and  doubling  again.  Unless 
the  growth  of  population  is  very  greatly  and  unex- 
pectedly retarded,  many  who  are  adults  to-day  will 
live  to  see  200,000,000  inhabitants  in  the  United  States, 
and  a  number  greater  than  our  present  population — 
over  50,000,000 — living  in  cities  of  8,000  and  upwards. 
And  the  city  of  the  future  will  be  more  crowded  than 
that  of  to-day,  because  the  elevator  makes  it  possible 
to  build,  as  it  were,  one  city  above  another.  Thus  is 
our  civilization  multiplying  and  focalizing  the  elements 
of  anarchy  and  destruction.  Nearly  forty  years  ago 
De  Tocqueville  wrote :  "  I  look  upon  the  size  of  cer- 
tain American  cities,  and  especially  upon  the  nature  of 
their  population,  as  a  real  danger  which  threatens  the 
security  of  the  democratic  republics  of  the  New  World." 
That  danger  grows  more  real  and  imminent  every 
year. 

And  this  peril,  like  the  others  which  have  been  dis- 
cussed, peculiarly  threatens  the  West.  The  time  will 
doubtless  come  when  a  majority  of  the  great  cities  of 
the  country  will  be  west  of  the  Mississippi.  This  will 
result  naturally  from  the  greater  eventual  population 
of  the  West ;  but,  in  addition  to  this  fact,  what  has 
been  pointed  out  must  not  be  forgotten,  that  agricul- 
ture will  occupy  a  much  smaller  place  relatively  in  the 
industries  of  the  West  than  in  those  of  the  East,  be- 
cause a  much  smaller  proportion  of  the  ]and  is  arable. 
The  vast  region  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  will  be  inhab- 
ited chiefly  by  a  mining  and  manufacturing  population, 
and  such  populations  live  in  cities. 

1.  In  gathering  up  the  results  of  the  foregoing 


tEBILS. THE   CIT*.  139 

cussion  of  these  several  perils,  it  should  be  remarked 
that  to  preserve  republican  institutions  requires  a 
higher  average  intelligence  and  virtue  among  large 
populations  than  among  small.  The  government  of 
3,000,000  people  was  a  simple  thing  compared  with  the 
government  of  50,000,000 ;  and  the  government  of 
50,000,000  is  a  simple  thing  compared  with  that  of 
500,000,000.  There  are  many  men  who  can  conduct  a 
small  business  successfully  who  are  utterly  incapable 
of  managing  large  interests.  In  the  latter  there  are 
multiplied  relations  whose  harmony  must  be  preserved. 
A  mistake  is  farther  reaching.  It  has,  as  it  were,  a 
longer  leverage.  This  is  equally  true  of  the  business 
of  government.  The  man  of  only  average  ability  and 
intelligence  discharges  creditably  the  duties  of  mayor 
in  his  little  town;  but  he  would  fail  utterly  at  the  head 
of  the  state  or  the  nation.  If  the  people  are  to  gov- 
ern, they  must  grow  more  intelligent  as  the  popula- 
tion and  the  complications  of  government  increase. 
And  a  higher  morality  is  even  more  essential.  As  civ- 
ilization increases,  as  society  becomes  more  complex, 
as  labor-saving  machinery  is  multiplied  and  the  divis- 
ion of  labor  becomes  more  minute,  the  individual  be- 
comes more  fractional  and  dependent.  Every  savage 
possesses  all  the  knowledge  of  his  tribe.  Throw  him 
upon  his  own  resources,  and  he  is  self-sufficient.  A 
civilized  man  in  like  circumstances  would  perish.  The 
savage  is  independent.  Civilize  him,  and  he  becomes 
dependent;  the  more  civilized,  the  more  dependent. 
And,  as  men  become  more  dependent  on  each  other, 
they  should  be  able  to  rely  more  implicitly  on  each 
other.  More  complicated  and  multiplied  relations  re- 
quire a  more  delicate  conscience  and  a  stronger  sense 
of  justice.  And  any  failure  in  character  or  conduct 


140  PERILS. THE   CITY- 

under  such  conditions  is  farther  reaching  and  more 
disastrous  in  its  results. 

Is  our  progress  in  morals  and  intelligence  at  all 
comparable  to  the  growth  of  population?  From 
1870  to  1880  illiteracy  decreased.  While  population 
increased  thirty  per  cent.,  the  illiterate  increased  only 
ten  per  cent.  There  were  in  the  United  States,  in 
1880,  1,908,801  illiterate  voters,  "genuine  agnostics," 
who  cannot  write  their  own  name.  At  present,  only 
one  voter  in  six  is  illiterate ;  but,  judging  from  a  report 
of  the  Senate  Committee  on  Education,  the  proportion 
will  soon  increase.  That  committee  estimates  the 
school  population  of  the  United  States  at  18,000,000, 
of  which  number  "  7,500,000,  or  five-twelfths  of  the 
whole,  are  growing  up  in  absolute  ignorance  of  the 
English  alphabet."  The  nation's  illiteracy  has  not 
been  discussed,  because  it  is  not  one  of  the  perils 
which  peculiarly  threaten  the  "West ;  but  any  one  who 
would  calculate  our  political  horoscope  must  allow  it 
great  influence  in  connection  with  the  baleful  stars 
which  are  in  the  ascendant.  But  the  danger  which 
arises  from  the  corruption  of  popular  morals  is  much 
greater.  The  republics  of  Greece  and  Rome,  and,  if  I 
mistake  not,  all  the  republics  that  have  ever  lived  and 
died,  were  more  intelligent  at  the  end  than  at  the  be- 
ginning ;  but  growing  intelligence  could  not  compen- 
sate decaying  morals.  What,  then,  is  our  moral  prog- 
ress? Are  popular  morals  as  sound  as  they  were 
twenty,  or  even  ten,  years  ago  ?  There  is,  perhaps,  no 
better  index  of  general  morality  than  Sabbath  observ- 
ance ;  and  everybody  knows  there  has  been  a  great  in- 
crease of  Sabbath  desecration  in  ten  years.  There 
was  three  times  as  much  intoxicating  liquor  used  per 
caput  in  the  United  States  in  1883  as  there  was  in 


PERILS. THE   CITY.  141 

1840.  Says  the  Kev.  S.  W.  Dike  :*  « It  is  safe  to  say 
that  divorce  has  been  doubled,  in  proportion  to  mar- 
riages or  population,  in  most  of  the  Northern  States 
within  thirty  years.  Present  figures  indicate  a  still 
greater  increase."  And  President  "Woolsey,  speaking 
of  the  United  States,  says :  f  "  On  the  whole,  there  can 
be  little,  if  any  question,  that  the  ratio  of  divorces  to 
marriages  or  to  population  exceeds  that  of  any  country 
in  the  Christian  world."  While  the  population  in- 
creased thirty  per  cent,  from  1870  to  1880,  the  number 
of  criminals  in  the  United  States  increased  82.33  per 
cent.  It  looks  very  much  as  if  existing  tendencies 
were  in  the  direction  of  the  dead-line  of  vice.  The 
city,  wealth,  socialism,  intemperance,  Mormonism, 
Romanism,  and  immigration  are  all  increasing  more 
rapidly  than  the  population.  Are  popular  mor- 
als likely  to  improve  under  their  increasing  influ- 
ence f 

2.  The  fundamental  idea  of  popular  government  is 
the  distribution  of  power.  It  has  been  the  struggle  of 
liberty  for  ages  to  wrest  power  from  the  hands  of  one 
or  the  few,  and  lodge  it  in  the  hands  of  the  many. 
We  have  seen,  in  the  foregoing  discussion,  that  cen- 
tralized power  is  rapidly  growing.  The  "boss"  makes 
his  bargain,  and  sells  his  ten  thousand  or  fifty  thous- 
and voters  as  if  they  were  so  many  cattle.  Centralized 
wealth  is  centralized  power;  and  the  capitalist  and, 
corporation  find  many  ways  to  control  votes.  The 
liquor  power  controls  thousands  of  votes  in  every  con- 
siderable city.  The  president  of  the  Mormon  church 
casts,  say,  sixty  thousand  votes.  The  Jesuits  are  all 
under  the  command  of  one  man  in  Washington.  The 

*  Princeton  Review ',  March,  1884,  p.  170. 

t  North  American  Review,  April,  1883,  p.  814. 


1.42  PERILS. THE   CITY. 

Catholic  vote  is  more  or  less  perfectly  controlled  by 
the  priests.  That  means  that  the  Pope  can  dictate 
some  hundreds  of  thousands  of  votes  in  the  United 
States.  Is  there  anything  unrepublican  in  all  this? 
And  we  must  remember  that,  if  present  tendencies 
continue,  these  figures  will  be  greatly  multiplied  in  the 
future.  And  not  only  is  this  immense  power  lodged 
in  the  hand  of  one  man,  which  in  itself  is  perilous,  but 
it  is  wielded  without  the  slightest  reference  to  any 
policy  or  principle  of  government,  solely  in  the  inter- 
ests of  a  church  or  a  business,  or  for  personal  ends. 

The  result  of  a  national  election  may  depend  on  a 
single  state  ;  the  vote  of  that  state  may  depend  on  a 
single  city ;  the  vote  of  that  city  may  depend  on  a 
"  boss,"  or  a  capitalist,  or  a  corporation ;  or  the  elec- 
tion may  be  decided,  and  the  policy  of  the  government 
may  be  reversed,  by  the  socialist,  or  liquor,  or  Romish, 
or  immigrant  vote. 

It  matters  not  by  what  name  we  call  the  man  who 
wields  this  centralized  power — whether  king,  czar,  pope, 
president,  capitalist,  or  boss.  Just  so  far  as  it  is  abso- 
lute and  irresponsible,  it  is  dangerous. 

3.  These  several  dangerous  elements  are  singularly 
netted  together,  and  serve  to ,  strengthen  each  other. 
It  is  not  necessary  to  prove  that  any  one  of  them  is 
likely  to  destroy  our  national  life,  in  order  to  show 
that  it  is  imperiled.  A  man  may  die  of  wounds  no  one 
of  which  is  fatal.  No  sober-minded  man  can  look 
fairly  at  the  facts,  and  doubt  that  together  these  perils 
constitute  an  array  which  seriously  threatens  our  free 
institutions ;  especially  in  view  of  the  fact  that  their 
strength  is  concentrating  in  the  West,  where  our  de- 
fense is  weakest. 

These  dangerous  elements  are  now  working,  and  will 


PERILS. — THE   CITY.  143 

continue  to  work,  incalculable  harm  and  loss — moral, 
intellectual,  social,  pecuniary.  But  the  supreme  peril, 
which  will  certainly  come,  eventually,  and  must  proba- 
bly be  faced  by  multitudes  now  living,  will  arise,  when, 
the  conditions  having  been  fully  prepared,  some  great 
industrial  or  other  crisis  precipitates  an  open  struggle 
between  the  destructive  and  the  conservative  elements 
of  society.  As  civilization  advances,  and  society  be- 
comes more  highly  organized,  commercial  transactions 
will  be  more  complex  and  immense.  As  a  result,  all 
business  relations  and  industries  will  be  more  sensi- 
tive. Commercial  distress  in  any  great  business  center 
will  the  more  surely  create  wide-spread  disaster. 
Under  such  conditions,  industrial  paralysis  is  likely  to 
occur  from  time  to  time,  more  general  and  more  pros- 
trating than  any  heretofore  known.  When  such  a 
commercial  crisis  has  closed  factories  by  the  ten  thou- 
sand, and  wage-workers  have  been  thrown  out  of  em- 
ployment by  the  million ;  when  the  public  lands,  which 
hitherto  at  such  times  have  afforded  relief,  are  all  ex- 
hausted ;  when  our  urban  population  has  been  multi- 
plied several  fold,  and  our  Cincinnatis  have  become 
Chicagos,  our  Chicagos  New  Yorks,  and  our  New 
Yorks  Londons ;  when  class  antipathies  are  deepened ; 
when  socialistic  organizations,  armed  and  drilled,  are 
in  every  city,  and  the  ignorant  and  vicious  power  of 
crowded  populations  has  fully  found  itself ;  when  the 
corruption  of  city  governments  is  grown  apace ;  when 
crops  fail,  or  some  gigantic  "corner"  doubles  the  price 
of  bread ;  with  starvation  in  the  home ;  with  idle  work- 
men gathered,  sullen  and  desperate,  in  the  saloons ; 
with  unprotected  wealth  at  hand ;  with  the  tremendous 
forces  of  chemistry  within  easy  reach  ;  then,  with  the 
opportunity ',  the  means,  the  fit  agents,  the  motive,  the 


144       THE  INFLUENCE  OF  EARLY  SETTLEES. 

temptation  to  destroy,  all  brought  into  evil  conjunction, 
THEN  will  come  the  real  test  of  our  institutions,  then 
will  appear  whether  we  are  capable  of  self-govern- 
ment. 


CHAPTEB  XI. 

THE  INFLUENCE  OF  EARLY  SETTLERS. 

OLIVER  WENDELL  HOLMES,  on  being  asked  when  the 
train  ing  of  a  child  should  begin,  replied:  "A  hundred 
years  before  he  is  born."  Not  only  should  it  begin 
then, it  does;  for  inheritance,  together  with  that  which 
necessarily  accompanies  it,  is  the  great  conservative  in- 
fluence which  perpetuates  national  characteristics,  and 
preserves  the  identity  of  races.  In  the  case  of  nations, 
education,  though  it  may  modify  the  results  of  inherit- 
ance, is,  itself,  for  the  most  part,  determined  by  in- 
heritance. What  is  the  difference  between  North  and 
South  America  ?  It  is  the  difference  between  the  An- 
glo-Saxon race  and  the  Spanish  race.  What  is  the 
difference  between  Massachusetts  and  Virginia  ?  It  is 
the  difference  between  the  Pilgrim  and  the  cavalier. 
How  unlike  are  Boston,  New  York,  Philadelphia,  New 
Orleans,  Montreal,  and  Quebec  ?  Religiously,  morally, 
intellectually,  socially,  commercially,  in  enterprise  and 
spirit,  they  differ  to-day  pretty  much  as  their  founders 
differed  generations  ago.  It  is  true  of  the  city  and 
nation  as  of  the  herb,  that  its  seed  is  in  itself,  after 
its  kind. 


THE  INFLUENCE  OF  EARLY  SETTLERS.       145 

Communities  and  commonwealths,  like  men,  have 
their  childhood,  which  is  the  formative  period.  It  is 
the  first  permanent  settlers  who  impress  themselves 
and  their  character  on  the  future.  Powerful  influences 
may,  in  later  years,  produce  important  modifications ; 
but  it  is  early  influence  which  is  farthest  reaching,  and 
is  generally  decisive.  It  is  easier  to  form  than  to  re 
form ;  easier  to  mold  molten  iron  than  to  file  the  cold 
cast. 

Look  at  a  few  illustrations  of  the  above  truths.  On 
the  Western  Reserve  are  two  adjoining  townships, 
which  were  settled  by  men  of  radically  different  char- 
acter. The  southern  township  was  founded  by  a  far- 
seeing  and  devoted  home  missionary.  He  had  become 
convinced  that  he  could  do  more  to  establish  Christian 
institutions  on  the  Reserve  "  by  one  conspicuous  ex- 
ample of  a  well  organized  and  well  Christianized  town- 
ship, with  all  the  best  arrangements  and  appliances  of 
New  England  civilization,  than  by  many  years  of  des- 
ultory effort  in  the  way  of  missionary  labor."  The  set- 
tlers were  carefully  selected.  None  but  professing 
Christians  were  to  become  land-holders.  As  soon  as  a 
few  families  had  moved  into  the  township,  public  wor- 
ship was  commenced,  and  has  ever  since  been  main- 
tained without  interruption.  A  church  was  organized 
under  the  roof  of  the  first  log  cabin.  At  the  center  of 
the  township,  where  eight  roads  meet,  was  located  the 
church  building,  fitly  representing  the  central  place  oc- 
cupied by  the  service  of  God  in  the  life  of  the  colony. 
Soon  followed  the  school-house  and  the  public  library. 
And  there,  in  the  midst  of  the  unconquered  forest,  only 
eight  years  after  the  first  white  settlement,  the  people, 
mindful  of  higher  education,  and  true  to  their  New 
England  antecedents,  planted  an  academy.  At  a  very 


14G        THE  INFLUENCE  OF  EARLY  SETTLERS. 

early  period  several  benevolent  societies  were  organ- 
ized, and  here  was  opened  the  first  school  for  the  deaf 
and  dumb  in  the  State  of  Ohio. 

The  northern  township  was  first  settled  by  an  infidel, 
who  seems  to  have  given  to  the  community  not  only 
his  name,  but,  in  large  measure,  his  character  also.  He 
naturally  attracted  men  of  the  same  sort.  He  ex- 
pressed the  desire  that  there  might  never  be  a  Christian 
church  in  the  township  ;  and,  so  far  as  I  know,  there 
has  never  been  organized  within  its  limits  an  Evangel- 
ical church.  Though  one  of  the  best  colleges  in  the 
West  was  founded  within  five  miles,  I  am  unable  to 
learn  that  any  young  man  from  this  township  has  ever 
taken  a  college  course.  A  few*  have  entered  profes- 
sional life,  none  of  whom  has  gained  a  wide  reputation. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  southern  township  is  widely 
known  to-day  for  its  moral  and  religious  character,  its 
weal thf  and  liberality,  and  for  the  exceptionally  large 
number  of  young  men  and  women  it  sends  to  colleges 
and  seminaries.  It  has  furnished  many  members  of 
the  state  legislature  and  senate.  It  has  been  fruitful 
of  ministers  and  educators,  some  of  whom  have  gained 
a  national  reputation.  From  this  little  village  of  a  few 
hundred  inhabitants  have  gone  forth  men  to  college 
professorships  east  and  west,  to  the  Supreme  Bench  of 
the  state,  and  to  the  United  States  Congress.  The 
general  character  of  these  two  townships  was  fixed  at 
the  beginning  of  the  century.  Their  founders  placed 
a  stamp  upon  them  which  abides. 

*  I  can  gain  definite  knowledge  of  only  seven,  though  it  is  quite  likely 
there  have  been  more. 

t  Though  the  northern  township  had  the  advantage  of  a  better  sol1,  the 
assessed  valuation  of  real  and  personal  property  in  the  southern  nov  ex- 
ceeds that  of  the  other  by  fifty-six  per  cent.  Godliness  is  profitable  t  *he 
life  that  now  is. 


THE  INFLUENCE  OF  EARLY  SETTLERS.       147 

The  town  of  Boscawen,  New  Hampshire,  was  settled 
in  1734,  by  a  colony  of  Massachusetts  people.  Scarcely 
were  they  settled,  when  they  took  steps  to  secure 
"  some  suitable  man  and  a  Christian  learned"  to  preach 
the  gospel.  The  original  stock  was  good,  and  the  for- 
mative influences  were  Christian.  We  now  find  that 
its  collegiate  and  professional  record  contains  more 
than  130  names,  among  which  there  are  those  of  two 
missionaries,  six  journalists,  twenty- one  lawyers,  thirty- 
five  physicians,  and  forty-two  ministers.  From  this 
town  came  General  John  A.  Dix,  Professor  Moses  Far- 
mer, John  P.  Farmer,  William  Pitt  Fessenden,  Nathaniel 
Green,  Colonel  Thomas  Gordon  Green,  Daniel  Webster, 
and  Ezekiel  Webster. 

When  Northampton,  Massachusetts,  was  settled,  in 
1654,  it  was  "  way  out  west"  on  the  frontier.  Among 
the  early  settlers  in  the  then  wilderness,  who  shaped 
the  character  and  history  of  the  town,  were  the  Aliens, 
Bartletts,  Bridgmans,  Clapps,  Dwights,  Elliotts,  Haw- 
leys,  Kings,  Lymans,  Mathers,  Parsons,  Stoddards. 
Strongs,  Tappans,  and  Wrights.  The  town  early  be- 
came distinguished  for  its  marked  religious  character 
and  its  educational  advantages.  For  a  century  and  a 
quarter  the  entire  population,  save  the  very  old  and 
the  very  young,  the  sick  and  their  attendants,  were 
found  in  the  church  every  Sabbath.  In  1735,  during 
the  pastorate  of  Jonathan  Edwards,  over  600,  out  of  a 
population  of  1,100,  were  members  of  the  church.  For 
seven  generations  the  impress  given  by  the  early  set- 
tlers has  remained.  Their  influence  upon  the  commu- 
nity, and  that  of  the  community  upon  the  state  and  the 
nation,  may  be,  in  some  measure,  estimated  from  the" 
following  record.*  Among  the  natives  and  residents 
*  «  Northampton  Antiquities,"  by  Rev.  Solomon  Clark, 


148        THE  INFLUENCE  OF  EARLY  SETTLEB8. 

of  the  town  are  about  354  college  graduates,  besides 
fifty-six  graduates  of  other  institutions,  one  hundred 
and  fourteen  ministers,  eighty-four  ministers'  wives, 
ten  missionaries,  twenty-five  judges,  about  one  hun 
dred  and  two  lawyers,  ninety-five  physicians ;  one  hun- 
dred and  one  educators,  including  seven  college  presi- 
dents and  thirty  professors,  twenty-four  editors,  six 
historians,  and  twenty-four  authors,  among  whom  are 
George  Bancroft,  John  Lothrop  Motley,  Professor 
W.  D.  "Whitney,  and  J.  G.  Holland;  thirty-eight  offi- 
cers of  state,  among  them  two  governors,  two  secre- 
taries of  the  Commonwealth,  seven  senators,  and  eigh- 
.teen  representatives;  twenty-one  army  officers,  includ- 
ing six  colonels  and  two  generals ;  twenty-eight  offi- 
cers of  the  United  States,  among  them  a  Secretary  of 
the  Navy,  two  Foreign  Ministers,  a  Treasurer  of  the 
United  States,  five  senators,  eight  members  of  Con- 
gress, and  one  President. 

If  a  community  produces  or  fails  to  produce  good 
citizens  and  able  men,  the  records  of  the  founders  will 
rarely  fail  to  afford  an  explanation,  for  the  influence  of 
the  early  settlers  continues  operative  until  their  de- 
scendants are  displaced  by  some  other  stock.  It  is 
true  the  glory  is  departing  from,  many  a  New  England 
village,  because  men,  alien  in  blood,  in  religion,  and  in 
civilization,  are  taking  possession  of  homes  in  which 
were  once  reared  the  descendants  of  the  Pilgrims. 
But  the  fact  that  the  character  of  New  England  is  un- 
dergoing important  changes  is  no  proof  that  the  im- 
press now  being  given  to  the  new  communities  of  the 
"West  will  not  be  permanent.  There  is  no  likelihood 
that  the  foreign  immigration  now  pouring  in  upon  us 
is  ever  to  be  supplanted  by  another  stock.  Instead,  it 
will  be  reinforced  until  there  is  an  equalization  of  pop- 


THE   INFLUENCE   OF   E^LRLT   SETTLEBS.  149 

ulation  between  the  Old  World  and  the  New,  and  then 
it  will  cease.  Beyond  a  peradventure,  the  character, 
and  hence  the  destiny,  of  the  great  "West,  for  centuries 
to  come,  is  now  being  determined. 

"  I  hear  the  tread  of  pioneers, 
Of  nations  yet  to  be ; 
The  first  low  wash  of  waves,  where  sooa 
Shall  roll  a  human  sea. 

"  The  rudiments  of  empire  here 
Are  plasMc  yet,  and  warm ;, 
The  chaos  of  a  mighty  world 
Is  rounding  into  form." 

What  the  final  form  of  that  western  world  is  likely 
to  be,  we  may  infer  from  the  forces  which  are  at  work 
shaping  it.  How  do  they  compare  with  the  influences 
which  molded  New  England  institutions'?  The  Pil- 
grim fathers  sought  these  shores  not  simply  as  refu- 
gees, but  also  as  missionaries.  "A  great  hope  and 
inward  zeal  they  had  of  laying  some  good  foundation 
(or,  at  least,  to  make  some  way  thereunto)  for  propa- 
gating and  advancing  the  Gospel  of  the  Kingdom  of 
Christ  in  those  remote  parts  of  the  world."  They 
came  not  for  gold ;  but  for  conscience  sake  and  soul's 
sake.  The  early  settlers  of  New  England  were  suf- 
ficiently homogeneous  to  enable  them  to  labor  har- 
moniously and  successfully  to  make  religion,  learning, 
liberty  and  law,  the  four  corner-stones  of  their  civiliza- 
tion. New  England  ideas  gave  form  to  the  national 
government,  and  shaped  the  institutions  of  the  Mid- 
dle States ;  but  does  any  one  suppose  they  are  domi- 
nant to-day  in  the  great  territories  of  the  West?  Is 
there  no  danger  that  an  alien  and  materialistic  civiliza- 
tion will  spring  up  in  the  Rocky  Mountains  and  beyond*? 

The  population  of  the  frontier  is  thoroughly  hetero- 
geneous. In  a  town  in  Montana  of  about  7,000inhabi- 


150        THE  INFLUENCE  OF  EARLY  SETTLEBS. 

tants,  a  religious  census  discovered,  in  addition  to  the 
usual  Protestant  sects,  evangelical  and  otherwise,  3,000 
Catholics,  several  members  of  the  Greek  church,  three 
Mohammedans  and  360  Buddhists.  In  a  single  con- 
gregation there  were  representatives  of  fifteen  states 
of  the  Union,  scattered  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pa- 
cific, and  the  following  nationalities :  German,  French, 
Italian,  English,  Scotch,  Irish,  "Welsh,  Norwegian, 
Swedish,  Greek  and  Russian,  besides  a  native  of 
Alaska.  The  "West  is  being  settled  by  well-nigh  every 
variety  of  race,  representing  every  type  of  religion  and 
irreligion — peoples  different  in  antecedents,  language, 
customs,  habits,  ideas  and  character.  The  one  thing 
in  which  a  frontier  population  agrees  is  the  universal 
and  unbending  purpose  to  make  money. 

We  have  already  seen  that  the  West  is  peculiarly 
exposed  to  the  dangers  of  Mammonism,  materialism, 
luxuriousness  and  the  centralization  of  wealth;  that 
conditions  are  exceptionally  favorable  to  the  spread  of 
socialism ;  that  the  relative  power  of  the  saloon  is  two 
and  a  half  times  greater  in  the  far  West  than  in  the 
East ;  that  Mormonism  is  rapidly  growing ;  that 
Komanism,  as  compared  with  the  population,  is  about 
three  times  as  strong  in  the  territories  as  in  the  whole 
United  States;  and  that  into  the  West  is  pouring 
seventy-five  per  cent,  of  immigration.  These  forces  of 
evil,  which  are  severely  trying  the  established  institu- 
tions of  the  East,  are  brought  to  bear  with  increased 
power  upon  the  plastic  and  formative  society  of  the 
West.  It  is  like  subjecting  a  child  to  evil  influences, 
for  resistance  to  which  the  full  strength  of  mature 
years  is  none  too  great. 

We  have  seen  (Chap.  IV.)  that  nearly  all  of  the  per- 
ils which  have  been  discussed  are  greatly  enhanced 


THE  INFLUENCE  OF  EARLY  SETTLERS.        151 

by  the  presence  of  the  foreign  element.  It  is  of  the 
utmost  significance  that  this  element  constitutes  so 
large  a  proportion  of  the  settlers  who  are  now  shaping 
the  future  of  the  great  commonwealths  of  the  West. 
Those  of  foreign  birth  or  extraction  *  were,  in  1880, 
38.2  per  cent,  of  the  population  of  Washington  Terri- 
tory. Of  Montana,,  they  constituted  48.8  per  cent,  of 
the  population  ;  of  Wyoming,  50.5  per  cent.-;  of  Utah, 
51.9  per  cent.;  of  Idaho,  53.2  per  cent.;  of  Arizona, 
55.2  per  cent.;  of  Dakota,  66.5  per  cent.;  of  the  State 
of  Nebraska,  43.5  per  cent.;  of  California,  59.9  per 
cent.;  of  Nevada,  63.3  per  cent.,  and  of  Minnesota, 
71.6  per  cent.  Not  including  Alaska,  New  Mexico,  or 
the  Indian  Territory,  53.9  per  cent,  of  the  population 
of  the  territories  was,  in  1880,  of  foreign  birth  or  ex- 
traction. The  population  of  New  Mexico,  though  al- 
most wholly  native,  is  essentially  foreign — foreign  in 
race,  language,  education  (or  rather  the  lack  of  it),  in 
religious  ideas,  habits  and  character.  It  is  much  more 
difficult  to  assimilate  than  any  of  the  European  races. 
The  same  is  true  of  the  population  of  the  Indian  Ter- 
ritory. Counting  these  peoples,  then,  as  foreign,  66 
per  cent,  of  the  population  of  the  territories  is  of  for- 
eign birth  or  extraction ;  and  these  territories  include 
nearly  44  per  cent,  of  all  the  land  between  the  Missis- 
sippi and  Alaska.  If  we  add  California,  Colorado,  Min- 
nesota, Nebraska,  Nevada  and  Oregon,  these  states, 
together  with  the  territories,  constitute  nearly  two- 
thirds  of  all  the  West,  and  58.9  per  cent,  of  their  in- 
habitants are  of  foreign  extraction  or  birth. 

We  have  seen  that  dangerous  influences  are  being 

*  By  foreign  extraction  is  meant  natives,  one  or  both  of  whose  parents 
were  foreign-born.  See  "  Compendium  of  Tenth  Census,"  Part  II,  pp.  1408 
and  1409. 


152        THE  INFLUENCE  OF  EAELY  SETTLERS. 

brought  to  "bear  upon  the  new  settlements  of  the  West 
with  peculiar  power.  Are  the  neutralizing  and  saving 
influences  of  the  Christian  religion  equally  strong? 
According  to  Dr.  Dorchester,  the  evangelical  church 
membership  of  the  United  States  in  1880,  was  one- 
fifth  of  the  entire  population ;  but  in  Oregon,  the  same 
year,  only  one  in  eleven  of  the  population  was  in  some 
evangelical,  church ;  in  Dakota,  one  in  twelve ;  in 
"Washington,  one  in  sixteen  ;  in  California  and  Colora- 
do, one  in  twenty;  in  Idaho,  one  in  thirty- three ;  in 
Montana,  one  in  thirty-six ;  in  Nevada,  one  in  forty- 
six;  in  Wyoming,  one  in  eighty-one;  in  Utah,  one  in 
224 ;  in  New  Mexico,  one  in  657 ;  in  Arizona,  one  in 
685. 

If,  as  Milton  says,  "Childhood  shows  the  man  as 
morning  shows  the  day,"  what  will  be  the  manhood  of 
the  West,  unless  the  churches  of  the  East  are  speedily 
aroused  to  some  appreciation  of  their  opportunity  and 
their  obligation? 

Important  changes  are  taking  place  in  the  East  and 
South,  but  they  do  not  possess  the  almost  boundless 
significance  which  attaches  to  beginnings.  East  of 
the  Mississippi,  state  constitutions  and  laws  were 
formed  long  since  ;  society  is  no  longer  chaotic,  it  has 
crystallized ;  religion  has  its  recognized  institutions 
which  are  thoroughly  established.  A  vast  work  remains 
to  be  done,  especially  in  the  South  and  the  cities  of 
the  North — a  work  which  sustains  important  relations 
to  our  national  welfare ;  but  it  is  the  West,  not  the 
South  or  the  North,  which  holds  the  key  to  the  nation's 
future.  The  center  of  population,  of  manufactures,  of 
wealth,  and  of  political  power  is  not  moving  south,  but 
west.  The  Southern  States  will  never  have  a  majority 
of  our  population ;  the  West  will.  To-day,  the  consti- 


THE  INFLUENCE  OF  EARLY  SETTLERS.        153 

tutions  and  laws  of  many  of  the  future  states  of  our 
western  empire  are  unformed.  Those  great  territo- 
ries, as  Edmund  Burke  once  said  of  the  nation,  are  yet 
"in  the  gristle  ";  society  is  still  chaotic  ;  religious,  ed- 
ucational and  political  institutions  are  embryonic ;  but 
their  character  is  being  rapidly  fashioned  by  the  swift, 
impetuous  forces  of  intense  western  life.  "Know  thy 
opportunity." 


CHAPTER  XII. 

THE  EXHAUSTION  OF  THE  PUBLIC  LANDS, 

THOMAS  CABLYLE  once  said  to  an  American :  "  Ye  may 
boast  o'  yer  dimocracy,  or  any  ither  'cracy,  or  any  kind 
o'  poleetical  roobish ;  but  the  reason  why  yer  laboring 
folk  are  so  happy  is  thoth  ye  have  a  vost  deal  o*  land 
for  a  verra  few  people."  Carlyle  was  not  the  man  to 
take  an  unprejudiced  view  of  republican  institutions; 
but  he  was  not  mistaken  in  finding  great  significance 
in  the  fact  that  heretofore  our  land  has  been  vastly 
greater  than  its  population.  The  rapid  accumulation 
of  our  wealth,  our  comparative  immunity  from  the  con- 
sequences of  unscientific  legislation,  our  financial  elas- 
ticity, our  high  wages,  the  general  welfare  and  content- 
ment of  the  people  hitherto  have  all  been  due,  in  very 
large  measure,  to  an  abundance  of  cheap  land.  When 
the  supply  is  exhausted,  we  shall  enter  upon  a  new  era, 
and  shall  more  rapidly  approximate  European  condi- 
tions of  life.  The  gravity  of  the  change  was  clearly 


154      THE  EXHAUSTION  OF  THE  PUBLIC  LANDS. 

foreseen  by  Lord  Maeaulay,  and  expressed  in  his  well- 
known  letter  to  Hon.  H.  S.  Randall,  in  1857 — a  letter 
which  General  Garfield  said  startled  him  "  like  an  alarm 
bell  in  the  night."  "Your  fate,"  says  Macaulay,  "I 
believe  to  be  certain,  though  it  is  deferred  by  a  phys- 
ical cause.  As  long  as  you  have  a  boundless  extent  of 
fertile  and  unoccupied  land,  your  laboring  population 
will  be  far  more  at  ease  than  the  laboring  population 
of  the  Old  World.  .  .  .  But  the  time  will  come 
when  New  England  will  be  as  thickly  peopled  as  Old 
England.  Wages  will  be  as  low,  and  will  fluctuate  as 
much  with  you  as  with  us.  You  will  have  your  Man- 
chesters  and  Birminghams.  And  in  those  Manchesters 
and  Birminghams  hundreds  of  thousands  of  artisans 
will  assuredly  be  some  tune  out  of  work.  Then  your 
institutions  will  be  fairly  brought  to  the  test.  .  .  . 
Through  such  seasons  the  United  States  will  have  to 
pass  in  the  course  of  the  next  century,  if  not  of  this.  I 
wish  you  a  good  deliverance.  But  my  reason  and  my 
wishes  are  at  war,  and  I  cannot  help  foreboding  the 
Worst." 

What  is  the  extent  of  these  public  lands  whose  oc- 
cupation means  so  much  I  The  public  domain  west  of 
the  Mississippi,  not  including  Alaska,  is  estimated  to 
have  been,  in  1880,  880,787,746  acres.*  This  includes 

*  The  following  table,  showing  the  location  of  public  lands,  is  compiled 
from  "  Spaulding  on  Public  Lands,"  pp.  6,  7. 

Surveyed  and  Unsurveyed. 

Unsold  Acres.  Acres.              Total. 

Arizona 1,561,231  61,098,366  68,659,591 

Arkansas 4,620,120  ....              4,623,120 

California 25,250,680  48,643,592  73,894,272 

Colorado 20,489,312  40,651,670  61,146,982 

Dakota 12,225,492  71,422,103  83,647,595 

Idaho 3,925,237  47,7  9,:  68  61,664,605 

Indian  Territory 17,150,250  17,150,250 

Kansas 28,049,731  ....  28,049,731 


THE  EXHAUSTION  OF  THE  PUBLIC  LANDS.      155 

land  necessary  to  fill  railroad  grants,  estimated  at  110,- 
000,000  acres,  also  private  land  claims  estimated*  at 
80,000,000  acres,  together  with  military  and  Indian  res- 
ervations estimated  at  157,356,952  acres.  Supposing 
all  of  the  military  and  Indian  reservations  to  revert  to 
the  public  domain  save  57,000,000  acres,  there  remained 
of  the  public  lands  west  of  the  Mississippi,  in  1880,  yet 
to  be  disposed  of,  about  633,787,746  acres.  This  seems 
an  almost  inexhaustible  supply,  but  we  must  remember 
the  magnitude  of  the  demand.  In  1881,  tlie  govern- 
ment parted  with  10,893,397  acres ;  in  1882,  14,309,- 
166  ;  in  1883,  19,4^0,032 ;  and  in  1884,  27,531,170— a 
slice  considerably  larger  than  the  State  of  Ohio,  in  a 
single  year,  and  a  total  in  the  four  years  of  72,163,765 
acres,  leaving  in  the  hands  of  the  government  at  the 
present  time  about  561,623,981  acres.  Not  only  is  the 
amount  annually  disposed  of  enormous,  but,  as  we 
have  seen,  it  is  very  rapidly  increasing.  Even  if  the 
increase  should  cease,  the  demand  for  1884,  steadily 
continued,  would  exhaust  the  supply  in  twenty  years. 
It  must  not  be  forgotten  that  these  561,000,000  acres 
include  the  great  mountain  ranges,  and  all  the  barren 
lands.  Only  a  comparatively  small  portion  is  arable. 
The  farming  lands  of  the  "West,  therefore,  will  all  be 


Louisiana  

2,130,000 

2,130,000 

Minnesota  

13,383,813 

13,510,423 

26,894,236 

Missouri  

1,000,000 

.... 

1,000,000 

Montana.  

5,TT9,452 

80,651,676 

86,431,128 

Nebraska  

23,958,652 

7,052,207 

31,010,859 

Nevada  

8,337,671 

58,436,698 

66,774,269 

New  Mexico  

6,042,409 

67,024,990 

73,067,399 

Oregon  

12,906,700 

37,908,340 

50,815,040 

Utah  

5,685,054 

44,282,680 

49,967,734 

Washington  

9,088,338 

28,836,985 

37,925,323 

Wyoming  

5,645,121 

53,381,485 

59,026,606 

Public  Land  strip  , 

6,912,000 

6,912,000 

Grand  total.  

..880,787,746 

*  George  W,  Spaulding, 


156      THE  EXHAUSTION  OF  THE  PUBLIC  LANDS. 

taken  before  the  close  of  this  century.  And  under 
private  ownership  they  will  appreciate  in  value  with 
the  increase  of  population.  Senator  Wade,  of  Ohio, 
predicted,  in  the  United  States  Senate,  some  twenty 
years  ago,  that,  by  1900,  every  acre  of  good  agricultural 
land  in  the  Union  would  be  worth  at  least  fifty  dollars. 
However  that  may  be,  it  is  certain  our  wide  domain 
will  soon  cease  to  palliate  popular  discontent,  because 
it  will  soon  be  beyond  the  reach  of  the  poor. 

But  the  settlement  of  the  public  lands  has  a  further 
and  even  deeper  significance.  The  first  permanent 
settlers,  as  we  have  seen  in  the  preceding  chapter,  im- 
press their  character  on  the  community  and  common- 
wealth for  generations  and  centuries  ;  and  this  abiding 
stamp  is  to  be  given  to  the  great  West  in  the  course  of 
the  next  fifteen  or  twenty  years.  True,  the  land  is  not 
settled  as  rapidly  as  it  is  disposed  of  by  the  govern- 
ment. Many  acres  have  passed  into  the  hands  of 
wealthy  syndicates  01  individual  capitalists,  and  are 
held  by  them  for  a  rise  in  value  ;  but  this  can  delay 
actual  settlement  for  a  short  time  only,  and  does  not 
modify  the  general  statement  that  the  great  West  is  to 
be  settled  by  this  generation.  Robert  Giffen,  Presi- 
dent of  the  London  Statistical  Society,  in  an  address 
on  "World  Crowding,"*  after  following  several  lines  of 
reasoning  to  the  same  conclusion,  says:  "Whatever 
way  we  may  look  at  the  matter,  then,  it  seems  certain 
that,  in  twenty-five  years'  time,  and  probably  before 
that  date,  the  limitation  of  area  in  the  United  States 
will  be  felt.  There  will  be  no  longer  vast  tracts  of 
virgin  land  for  the  settler.  The  whole  available  area 
will  be  peopled  agriculturally,  as  the  Eastern  States 
are  now  peopled."  Suppose  the  entire  region  west  of 
"  *  "  Topics  of  tlie  Time,"  Vol.  L,  No.  1,  p.  36. 


THE  EXHAUSTION  OF  THE  PUBLIC  LANDS.      157 

the  Mississippi — not  excepting  bald  mountains  and 
alkaline  deserts — were  divided  into  townships  six 
miles  square.  From  1870  to  1880  the  transmississippi 
population  increased  a  little  more  than  sixty-one  per 
cent.*  If  that  ratio  of  increase  is  sustained  to  the 
close  of  the  century  (and  there  is  abundant  reason  to 
believe  that  it  will  rise),  in  1900  there  will  be  a  popu- 
lation of  30,165,000 — sufficient,  if  it  were  evenly  dis- 
tributed, to  place  530  souls  in  every  township  west  of 
the  great  river.  The  natural  distribution  of  such  a 
population  would  manifestly  result  in  the  settlement 
of  all  the  habitable  regions.  Consider  the  location  of 
the  unoccupied  land.  It  is  not  a  vast  island,  like  Aus- 
tralia, separated  by  thousands  of  miles  from  its  sources 
of  population.  It  lies  close  to  one  of  the  greatest  peo- 
ples on  the  earth  ;  and  not  on  our  north  or  south,  but 
on  our  west,  which  is  important,  because  great  migra- 
tions move  along  lines  of  latitude.  Moreover,  this  . 
great  territory  is  gridironed  with  transcontinental 
railways.  Every  circumstance  favors  its  rapid  occupa- 
tion. 

"We  must  note,  also,  the  order  of  settlement.  In  the 
Middle  States  the  farms  were  first  taken,  then  the 
town  sprung  up  to  supply  their  wants,  and  at  length 
the  railway  connected  it  with  the  world;  but  in  the 
West  the  order  is  reversed — first  the  railroad,  then  the 
town,  then  the  farms.  Settlement  is,  consequently, 
much  more  rapid,  and  the  city  stamps  the  country,  in- 
stead of  the  country's  stamping  the  city.  It  is  the 
cities  and  towns  which  will  frame  state  constitutions, 
make  laws,  create  public  opinion,  establish  social 

*  During  the  same  period  the  average  per  cent,  of  increase  of  population 
in  all  the  states  of  the  Union  was  29— in  the  territories,  11.  Idaho  increased 
117  per  cent.,  Wyoming,  127,  Washington,  213,  Arizona,  318,  Dakota,  853. 


THE  EXHAUSTION  OF  THE  PUBLIC  LANDS. 

usages,  and  fix  standards  of  morals  in  the  West.  The 
character  of  the  West  will,  therefore,  be  substantially 
determined  some  time  before  the  land  is  all  occupied. 

In  1880,  fifty-three  per  cent,  of  our  national  domain 
(not  including  Alaska)  contained  only  six  per  cent,  of 
our  population.  That  is,  one-half  of  our  territory  was, 
for  the  most  part,  uninhabited.  The  character  of  this 
vast  region,  equal  in  area  to  Great  Britain,  France, 
Spain,  Italy,  Austria,  Germany,  Norway  and  Sweden, 
together  with  a  dozen  of  the  smaller  European  states, 
is  to  be  determined  during  the  last  twenty  years  of  the 
century.  Suppose  all  of  Western  Europe  were  prac- 
tically uninhabited,  that  to-day  the  pioneer  were  pitch- 
ing his  tent  by  the  Thames  and  the  Seine,  and  building 
his  log  cabin  on  the  banks  of  the  Tiber.  He  takes  with 
him  not  the  rude  implements. of  centuries  ago,  but  the 
locomotive,  the  telegraph,  the  steam-press,  and  all  the 
swift  appliances  of  modern  civilization.  Suppose  the 
countries  named  above  were  all  to  be  settled  in  twenty 
years  ;  that,  instead  of  the  slow  evolutions  of  many 
centuries,  their  political,  social,  religious,  and  educa- 
tional institutions  were  to  be  determined  by  one  gen- 
eration ;  that  from  this  one  generation  were  to  spring  a 
civilization,  like  Minerva  from  the  head  of  Jupiter, 
full-grown  and  fully  equipped.  What  a  period  in  the 
world's  history  it  would  be,  unparalleled  and  tremen- 
dous! Yet  such  a  Europe  is  being  created  by  this 
generation  west  of  the  Mississippi.  And  within  the 
bosom  of  these  few  years  is  folded  not  only  the  future 
of  the  mighty  West,  but  the  nation's  destiny ;  for,  as 
we  have  seen,  the  West  is  to  dominate  the  East. 


THE  ANGLO-SAXON  AND  THE  WORLDS  FUTURE.    159 

I  CHAPTER  XIII. 

THE  ANGLO-SAXON  AND.  THE  WORLD'S  FUTURE.* 

EVERY  race  which  has  deeply  impressed  itself  on  the 
human  family  has  been  the  representative  of  some 
great  idea — one  or  more — which  has  given  direction  to 
the  nation's  life  and  form  to  its  civilization.  Among 
the  Egyptians  this  seminal  idea  was  life,  among  the 
Persians  it  was  light,  among  the  Hebrews  it  was  pu- 
rity, among  the  Greeks  it  was  beauty,  among  the  Ro- 
mans it  was  law.  The  Anglo-Saxon  is  the  representa- 
tive of  two  great  ideas,  which  are  closely  related.  One 
of  them  is  that  of  civil  liberty.  Nearly  all  of  the  civil 
liberty  in  the  world  is  enjoyed  by  Anglo-Saxons :  the 
English,  the  British  colonists,  and  the  people  of  the 
United  States.  To  some,  like  the  Swiss,  it  is  permitted 
by  the  sufferance  of  their  neighbors ;  others,  like  the 
French,  have  experimented  with  it;  but,  in  modern 
times,  the  peoples  whose  love  of  liberty  has  won  it,  and 
whose  genius  for  self-government  has  preserved  it, 
have  been  Anglo-Saxons.  The  noblest  races  have  al- 
ways been  lovers  of  liberty.  That  love  ran  strong  in 
early  German  blood,  and  has  profoundly  influenced  the 
institutions  of  all  the  branches  of  the  great  German 
family ;  but  it  was  left  for  the  Anglo-Saxon  branch 
fully  to  recognize  the  right  of  the  individual  to  him- 
self, and  formally  to  declare  it  the  foundation  stone  of 
government. 

The  other  great  idea  of  which  the  Anglo-Saxon  is  the 

*  It  is  only  just  to  say  that  the  substance  of  this  chapter  was  given  to  the 
public  as  a  lecture  some  three  years' before  the  appearance  of  Prof.  Fiske's 
"  Manifest  Destiny,"  in  Harper's  Magazine,  for  March,  1885,  which,  contains 
some  of  the  same  ideas. 


160    THE  ANGLO-SAXON  AND  THE  WORLD'S  FUTURE. 

exponent  is  that  of  a  pure  spiritual  Christianity.     It 
was  no  accident  that  the  great  reformation  of  the  six- 
teenth century  originated  among  a  Teutonic,  rather 
than  a  Latin  people.     It  was  the  fire  of  liberty  burning 
in  the  Saxon  heart  that  flamed  up  against  the  absolu- 
tism of  the  Pope.     Speaking  roughly,  the  peoples  of 
Europe  which  are  Celtic  are  Catholic,  and  those  which 
are  Teutonic  are  Protestant ;  and  where  the  Teutonic 
'race  was  purest,  there  Protestantism  spread  with  the 
greatest  rapidity.     But,  with  rare  and  beautiful  excep- 
tions, Protestantism  on  the  continent  has  degenerated 
into  mere  formalism.     By  confirmation  at  a  certain 
age,  the  state  churches  are  filled  with  members  who 
generally  know  nothing  of  a  personal  spiritual  experi- 
ence.    In  obedience  to  a  military  order,  a  regiment  of 
German  soldiers  files  into  church  and  partakes  of  the 
sacrament,  just  as  it  would  shoulder  arms  or  obey  any 
other  word  of  command.     It  is  said  that,  in  Berlin  and 
Leipsic,  only  a  little  over  one  per  cent,  of  the  Protest- 
ant population  are  found  in  church.     Protestantism  on 
the  continent  seems  to  be  about  as  poor  in  spiritual 
life  and  power  as  Catholicism.     That  means  that  most 
of  the   spiritual  Christianity .  in  the  world  is   found 
among  Anglo-Saxons  and  their  converts ;  for  this  is  the 
great  missionary  race.     If  we  take  all  of  the  German 
missionary  societies  together,  we  find  that,  in  the  num- 
ber of  workers  and  amount  of  contributions,  they  do 
not  equal  the  smallest  of  the  three  great  English  mis- 
sionary societies.     The  year  that  Congregationalists  in 
the  United  States  gave  one  dollar  and   thirty-seven 
cents  per  caput  to  foreign  missions,  the  members  of 
the  great  German  State  Chui;ch  gave  only  three-quar- 
ters of  a  cent  per  caput  to  the  same  cause.*     Evident- 

*  Cnristlieb's  "  Protestant  Foreign  Missions,"  pp.  34  and  37. 


161 

ly  it  is  chiefly  to  the  English  and  American  peoples 
that  we  must  look  for  the  evangelization  of  the  world. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  argue  to  those  for  whom  I 
write  that  the  two  great  needs  of  mankind,  that  all 
men  may  be  lifted  up  into  the  light  of  the  highest 
Christian  civilization,  are,  first,  a  pure,  spiritual  Chris- 
tianity, and,  second,  civil  liberty.  Without  contro- 
versy, these  are  the  forces  which,  in  the  past,  have  con- 
tributed most  to  the  elevation  of  the  human  race,  and 
they  must  continue  to  be,  in  the  future,  the  most  effi- 
cient ministers  to  its  progress.  It  follows,  then,  that 
the  Anglo-Saxon,  as  the  great  representative  of  these 
two  ideas,  the  depositary  of  these  two  greatest  bless- 
ings, sustains  peculiar  relations  to  the  world's  future, 
is  divinely  commissioned  to  be,  in  a  peculiar  sense,  his 
brother's  keeper.  Add  to  this  the  fact  of  his  rapidly 
increasing  strength  in  modern  times,  and  we  have  well 
nigh  a  demonstration  of  his  destiny.  In  1700  this  race 
numbered  less  than  6,000,000  souls.  In  1800,  Anglo- 
Saxons  (I  use  the  term  somewhat  broadly  to  include 
all  English-speaking  peoples)  had  increased  to  about 
20,500,000,  and  in  1880  they  numbered  nearly  100,000,- 
000,  having  multiplied  almost  five-fold  in  eighty  years. 
At  the  end  of  the  reign  of  Charles  II.  the  English 
colonists  in  America  numbered  200,000.  During  these 
two  hundred  years,  our  population  has  increased  two 
hundred  and  fifty-fold.  And  the  expansion  of  this  race 
has  been  no  less  remarkable  than  its  multiplication. 
In  one  century  the  United  States  has  increased  its  ter- 
ritory ten-fold,  while  the  enormous  acquisition  of 
foreign  territory  by  Great  Britain — and  chiefly  within 
the  last  hundred  years — is  wholly  unparalleled  in  his- 
tory. This  mighty  Anglo-Saxon  race,  though  compris- 
ing only  one-fifteenth  part  of  mankind,  now  rules  more 


162    THE  ANGLO-SAXON  AND  THE  WORLD'S  FUTURE. 

than  one-third  of  the  earth's  surface,  and  more  than 
one-fourth  of  its  people.  And  if  this  race,  while  grow- 
ing from  6,000,000  to  100,000,000,  thus  gained  posses- 
sion of  a  third  portion  of  the  earth,  is  it  to  be  supposed 
that  when  it  numbers  1,000,000,000,  it  will  lose  the  dis- 
position, or  lack  the  power  to  extend  its  sway? 

This  race  is  multiplying  not  only  more  rapidly  than 
any  other  European  race,  but  far  more  rapidly  than  all 
the  races  of  continental  Europe.  There  is  no  exact 
knowledge  of  the  population  of  Europe  early  in  the 
century ;  we  know,  however,  that  the  increase  on  the 
continent  during  the  ten  years  from  1870  to  1880,  was 
6.89  per  cent.  If  this  rate  of  increase  is  sustained  for 
a,  century  (and  it  is  more  likely  to  fall,  as  Europe  be- 
comes more  crowded),  the  population  on  the  continent 
in  1980  will  be  534,000,000 ;  while  the  one  Anglo-Saxon 
race,  if  it  should  multiply  for  a  hundred  years  as  it  in- 
creased from  1870  to  1880,  would,  in  1980,  number 
1,343,000,000  souls;  but  we  cannot  reasonably  expect 
this  ratio  of  increase  to  be  sustained  so  long.  What, 
then,  will  be  the  probable  numbers  of  this  race  a  hun- 
dred years  hence?  In  attempting  to  answer  this  ques- 
tion, several  things  must  be  borne  in  mind.  Hereto- 
fore, the  great  causes  which  have  operated  to  check 
the  growth  of  population  in  the  world  have  been  war, 
famine,  and  pestilence ;  but,  among  civilized  peoples, 
these  causes  are  becoming  constantly  less  operative. 
Paradoxical  as  it  seems,  the  invention  of  more  destruc- 
tive weapons  of  war  renders  war  less  destructive; 
commerce  and  wealth  have  removed  the  fear  of  famine, 
and  pestilence  is  being  brought  more  and  more  under 
control  by  medical  skill  and  sanitary  science.  More- 
over, Anglo-Saxons,  with  the  exception  of  the  people 
of  Great  Britain,  who  now  compose  only  a  little  more 


THE  ANGLO-SAXON  AND   1-HE  WOBLDVS  tfUTTTBE.        163 

than  one- third  of  this  race,  are  much  less  exposed  to 
these  checks  upon  growth  than  the  races  of  Europe. 
Again,  Europe  is  crowded,  and  is  constantly  becoming 
more  so,  which  will  tend  to  reduce  continually  the 
ratio  of  increase ;  while  nearly  two-thirds  of  the  Anglo- 
Saxons  occupy  lands  which  invite  almost  unlimited  ex- 
pansion— the  United  States,  Canada,  Australia,  and 
South  Africa.  Again,  emigration  from  Europe,  which 
is  certain  to  increase,  is  chiefly  into  Anglo-Saxon  coun- 
tries ;  while  these  foreign  elements  exert  a  modifying 
influence  on  the  Anglo-Saxon  stock,  their  descendants 
are  certain  to  be  Anglo-Saxonized.  From  1870  to 
1880,  Germany  lost  987,000  inhabitants  by  emigration; 
in  one  generation,  their  children  will  be  counted 
Anglo-Saxons.  This  race  has  been  undergoing  an  un- 
paralleled expansion  during  the  eighteenth  and  nine- 
teenth centuries,  and  the  conditions  for  its  continued 
growth  are  singularly  favorable. 

We  are  now  prepared  to  ask  what  light  statistics 
cast  on  the  future.  In  Great  Britain,  from  1840  to 
1850,  the  ratio  of  increase  of  the  population  was  2.49 
per  cent.;  during  the  next  ten  years  it  was  5.44  per 
cent.;  the  next  ten  years,  it  was  8.60;  and  from  1870 
to  1880,  it  was  10.57  per  cent.  That  is,  for  forty  years 
the  ratio  of  increase  has  been  rapidly  rising.  It  is  not 
unlikely  to  continue  rising  for  some  time  to  come; 
but,  remembering  that  the  population  is  dense,  in 
making  our  estimate  for  the  next  hundred  years,  we 
will  suppose  the  ratio  of  increase  to  be  only  one-half 
as  large  as  that  from  1870  to  1880,  which  would  make 
the  population  in  1980,  57,000,000.  All  the  great 
colonies  of  Britain,  except  Canada,  which  has  a  great 
future,  show  a  very  high  ratio  of  increase  in  popula- 
tion; that  of  Australia,  from  1870  to  1880,  was  56.50 


164   THE  ANGLO-SAXON  AND  THE  WORLD'S  FUTURE. 

per  cent.;  that  of  South  Africa  was  73.28.  It  is  quite 
reasonable  to  suppose  that  the  colonies,  taken  to- 
gether, will  double  their  population  once  in  twenty- 
five  years  for  the  next  century.  In  the  United  States, 
population  has,  on  the  average,  doubled  once  in  twen- 
ty-five years  since  1685.  Adopting  this  ratio,  then, 
for  the  English  colonies,  their  11,000,000  in  1880  will 
be  176,000,000  in  1980.  Turning  now  to  our  own 
country,  we  find  in  the  following  table  the  ratio  of  in- 
crease of  population  for  each  decade  of  years  since 
1800: 

From  1800  to    1810 36.38  per  cent. 

"  1810  «    1820 34.80  "  " 

«  1820  "     1830 33.11  "  " 

«  1830  "    1840 32.66  "  " 

«  1840  «    1850 35.87  "  " 

«  1850  "    1860 35.58  "  " 

«  1860  "    1870 22.59  «  " 

«  1870  «    1880 30.06  «  " 

Here  we  see  a  falling  ratio  of  increase  of  about  one 
per  cent,  every  ten  years  from  1800  to  1840 — a  period 
when  immigration  was  inconsiderable.  During  the 
next  twenty  years  the  ratio  was  decidedly  higher,  be- 
cause of  a  large  immigration.  It  fell  off  during  the 
war,  and  again  arose  from  1870  to  1880.  Increased 
immigration  is  likely  to  sustain  this  high  ratio  of  in- 
crease for  some  time  to  come.  If  it  should  continue 
for  a  hundred  years,  our  population  in  1980  would  be 
697,000,000.  But  suppose  we  take  no  account  of  im- 
migration, leaving  it  to  offset  any  unforeseen  check 
upon  growth,  we  may  infer  from  the  first  forty  years 
of  the  century  that  the  ratio  of  increase  would  not  fall 
more  than  about  one  per  cent,  every  ten  years.  Be- 


THE  ANGLO-SAXON  AND  THE  WORLDS  FUTURE.    165 

ginning,  then,  with  an  increase  of  thirty  per  cent,  from 
1880  to  1890,  and  adopting  this  falling  ratio  of  in- 
crease, our  population  in  1980  would  be  480,000,000, 
making  the  total  Anglo-Saxon  population  of  the  world, 
at  that  time,  713,000,000,  as  compared  with  534,000,000 
inhabitants  of  continental  Europe.  And  it  should  be 
remembered  that  these  figures  represent  the  largest 
probable  population  of  Europe,  and  the  smallest  prob- 
able numbers  of  the  Ajiglo-Saxon  race.  It  is  not  un- 
likely that,  before  the  close  of  the  next  century,  this 
race  will  outnumber  all  the  other  civilized  races  of  the 
world.  Does  it  not  look  as  if  God  were  not  only  pre- 
paring in  our  Ajiglo-Saxon  civilization  the  die  with 
which  to  stamp  the  peoples  of  the  earth,  but  as  if  he 
were  also  massing  behind  that  die  the  mighty  power 
with  which  to  press  it  I  My  confidence  that  this  race 
is  eventually  to  give  its  civilization  to  mankind  is  not 
based  on  mere  numbers — China  forbid !  I  look  for- 
ward to  what  the  world  has  never  yet  seen  united  in 
the  same  race ;  viz.,  the  greatest  numbers,  and  the  high- 
est civilization. 

There  can  be  no  reasonable  doubt  that  North  Amer- 
ica is  to  be  the  great  home  of  the  AjQglo-Saxon,  the 
principal  seat  of  his  power,  the  center  of  his  life  and 
influence.  Not  only  does  it  constitute  seven-elevenths 
of  his  possessions,  but  his  empire  is  unsevered,  while 
the  remaining  four-elevenths  are  fragmentary  and  scat- 
tered over  the  earth.  Australia  will  have  a  great  pop- 
ulation ;  but  its  disadvantages,  as  compared  with  North 
America,  are  too  manifest  to  need  mention.  Our  con- 
tinent has  room  and  resources  and  climate,  it  lies  in 
the  pathway  of  the  nations,  it  belongs  to  the  zone  of 
power,  and  already,  among  Anglo-Saxons,  do  we  lead 
in  population  and  wealth.  Of  England,  Franklin  once 


166         THE  ANGLO-SAXON   AND    TflE  WORLD'S   FUTURE. 

wrote  :  "  That  pretty  island  which,  compared  to  Amer- 
ica, is  but  a  stepping-stone  in  a  brook,  scarce  enough 
of  it  above  water  to  keep  one's  shoes  dry."  England 
can  hardly  hope  to  maintain  her  relative  importance 
among  Anglo-Saxon  peoples  when  her  "pretty  island" 
is  the  home  of  only  one-twentieth  part  of  that  race. 
With  the  wider  distribution  of  wealth,  and  increasing 
facilities  of  intercourse,  intelligence  and  influence  are 
less  centralized,  and  peoples  become  more  homogene- 
ous ;  and  the  more  nearly  homogeneous  peoples  are, 
the  more  do  numbers  tell.  America  is  to  have  the 
great  preponderance  of  numbers  and  of  wealth,  and  by 
the  logic  of  events  will  follow  the  scepter  of  controlling 
influence.  This  will  be  but  the  consummation  of  a 
movement  as  old  as  civilization — a  result  to  which  mei? 
have  looked  forward  for  centuries.  John  Adams  re- 
cords that  nothing  was  "  more  ancient  in  his  memory 
than  the  observation  that  arts,  sciences  and  empire  had 
traveled  westward ;  and  in  conversation  it  was  always 
added  that  their  next  leap  would  be  over  the  Atlantic 
into  America."  He  recalled  a  couplet  that  had  been 
"  inscribed,  or  rather  drilled,  into  a  rock  on  the  shore 
of  Monument  Bay  in  our  old  colony  of  Plymouth : 

'  The  Eastern  nations  sink,  their  glory  ends, 
And  empire  rises  where  the  sun  descends.'"* 

The  brilliant  Galiani,  who  foresaw  a  future  in  which 
Europe  should  be  ruled  by  America,  wrote,  during  the 
Eevolutionary  War,  "  I  will  wager  in  favor  of  America, 
for  the  reason  merely  physical,  that  for  5,000  years 
genius  has  turned  opposite  to  the  diurnal  motion,  and 
traveled  from  the  East  to  the  West."f  Count  d'Aranda, 
after  signing  the  Treaty  of  Paris  of  1773,  as  therepre- 

*  John  Adams'  Works,  Vol.  IX,  pp.  59T— 599. 
t  Galiani,  Tome  II,  p.  2T5. 


THE  ANGLO-SAXON  AND  THE  WOBLD?S  FUTURE.    167 

sentative  of  Spain,  wrote  his  king :  "  This  Federal  Re- 
public is  born  a  pigmy.  ...  a  day  will  come  when 
it  will  be  a  giant,  even  a  colossus  formidable  in  these 
countries." 

Adam  Smith,  in  his  "  Wealth  of  Nations,"  predicts 
the  transfer  of  empire  from  Europe  to  America.  The 
traveler,  Burnaby,  found,  in  the  middle  of  the  last  cen- 
tury, that  an  idea  had  "  entered  into  the  minds  of  the 
generality  of  mankind,  that  empire  is  traveling  west- 
ward ;  and  every  one  is  looking  forward  with  eager 
and  impatient  expectation  to  that  destined  moment 
when  America  is  to  give  the  law  to  the  rest  of  the 
world."  Charles  Sumner  wrote  of  the  "  coming  time 
when  the  whole  continent,  with  all  its  various  states, 
shall  be  a  Plural  Unit,  with  one  Constitution,  one  Lib- 
erty and  one  Destiny,'1  and  when  "the  national  ex- 
ample will  be  more  puissant  than  army  or  navy  for  the 
conquest  of  the  world."  *  It  surely  needs  no  prophet's 
eye  to  see  that  the  civilization  of  the  United  States  is 
to  be  the  civilization  of  America,  and  that  the  future 
of  the  continent  is  ours.  In  1880,  the  United  States 
was  the  home  of  more  than  one-half  of  the  Anglo-Saxon 
race  ;  and,  if  the  computations  already  given,  are  cor- 
rect, a  much  larger  proportion  will  be  here  a  hundred 
years  hence.  It  has  been  shown  that  we  have  room 
for  at  least  a  thousand  millions.  According  to  recent 
figures,  there  is  in  France  a  population  of  180.88  to  the 
square  mile ;  in  Germany,  216.62 ;  in  England  and 
Wales,  428.67;  in  Belgium,  481.71 ;  in  the  United 
States — not  including  Alaska — 16.88.  If  our  popula- 
tion were  as  dense  as  that  of  France,  we  should  have, 
this  side  of  Alaska,  537,000,000 ;  if  as  dense  as  that  of 
Germany,  643,000,000 ;  if  as  dense  as  that  of  England 

*  See  The  Atlantic ,  Vol.  20,  pp.  275— 306» 


168    THE  ANGLO-SAXON  AND  THE  WORLD'S  FUTUBE. 

and  Wales,  1,173,000,000 ;  if  as  dense  as  that  of  Bel- 
gium, 1,430,000,000. 

But  we  are  to  have  not  only  the  larger  portion  of 
the  Anglo-Saxon  race  for  generations  to  come,  we  may 
reasonably  expect  to  develop  the  highest  type  of  Anglo- 
Saxon  civilization.  If  human  progress  follows  a  law 
of  development,  if 

"  Time's  noblest  offspring  is  the  last," 
our  civilization  should  be  the  noblest ;  for  we  are 

"  The  heirs  of  all  the  ages  in  the  foremost  flies  of  time," 
and  not  only  do  we  occupy  the  latitude  of  power,  but 
our  land  is  the  last  to  be  occupied  in  that  latitude. 
There  is  no  other  virgin  soil  in  the  North  Temperate 
Zone.  If  the  consummation  of  human  progress  is  not 
to  be  looked  for  here,  if  there  is  yet  to  flower  a  higher 
civilization,  where  is  the  soil  that  is  to  produce  it? 
Whipple  says  :  *  "  There  has  never  been  a  great  mi- 
gration that  did  not  result  in  a  new  form  of  national 
genius."  Our  national  genius  is  Anglo-Saxon,  but  not 
English,  its  distinctive  type  is  the  result  of  a  finer 
nervous  organization,  which"  is  certainly  being  devel- 
oped in  this  country.  "  The  history  of  the  world's 
progress  from  savagery  to  barbarism,  from  barbarism 
to  civilization,  and,  in  civilization,  from  the  lower  de- 
grees toward  the  higher,  is  the  history  of  increase  in 
average  longevity,!  corresponding  to,  and  accompanied 
by,  increase  of  nervousness.  Mankind  has  grown  to  be 
at  once  more  delicate  and  more  enduring,  more  sensi- 
tive to  weariness  and  yet  more  patient  of  toil,  impressi- 
ble, but  capable  of  bearing  powerful  irritation ;  we  are 

*  Atlantic  for  Oct.,  1858. 

t  "  It  is  ascertained  that  the  average  measure  of  human  life,  in  this  coun- 
try, has  been  steadily  increasing  during  this  century,  and  is  now  considerably 
longer  than  in  any  other  country."  Dorchester's  "Problem  of  Religious 
Progress,"  p.  288. 


THE  ANGLO-SAXON  AND  THE  WOELD^S  FUTURE.    169 

woven  of  finer  fiber,  which,  though  apparently  frail,  yet 
outlasts  the  coarser,  as  rich  and  costly  garments  often- 
times wear  better  than  those  of  rougher  workman- 
ship."* The  roots  of  civilization  are  the  nerves ;  and 
other  things  being  equal,  the  finest  nervous  organiza- 
tion will  produce  the  highest  civilization.  Heretofore, 
war  has  been  almost  the  chief  occupation  of  strong 
•  races.  England,  during  the  past  sixty-eight  years, 
has  waged  some  seventy-seven  wars.  John  Bright  said 
recently  that,  during  Queen  Victoria's  reign,  $750,000,- 
000  had  been  spent  in  war  and  68,000  lives  lost.  The 
mission  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  has  been  largely  that  of 
the  soldier ;  but  the  world  is  making  progress,  we  are 
leaving  behind  the  barbarism  of  war  ;  as  civilization 
advances,  it  will  learn  less  of  war,  and  concern  itself 
more  with  the  arts  of  peace,  and  for  these  the  massive 
battle-ax  must  be  wrought  into  tools  of  finer  temper. 
The  physical  changes  accompanied  by  mental,  which 
are  taking  place  in  the  people  of  the  United  States  are 
apparently  to  adapt  men  to  the  demands  of  a  higher 
civilization.  But  the  objection  is  here  interposed  that 
the  "  physical  degeneracy  of  Americans  "  is  inconsist- 
ent with  the  supposition  of  our  advancing  to  a  higher 
civilization.  Professor  Huxley,  when  at  Buffalo  he 
addressed  the  American  Association  for  the  Advance- 
ment of  Science,  said  he  had  heard  of  the  degeneration 
of  the  original  American  stock,  but  during  his  visit  to 
the  states  he  had  failed  to  perceive  it.  We  are  not, 
however,  in  this  matter,  dependent  on  the  opinion  of 
even  the  best  observers.  During  the  War  of  the  Con- 
federacy, the  Medical  Department  of  the  Provost  Mar- 
shal General's  Bureau  gathered  statistics  from  the  ex- 
amination of  over  half  a  million  of  men,  native  and 
*  "  Beard's  American  Nervousness,"  p.  287. 


170   THE  ANGLO-SAXON  AND  THE  WORLD'S  FUTURE. 

foreign,  young  and  old,  sick  and  sound,  drawn  from 
every  rank  and  condition  of  life,  and,  hence,  fairly  rep- 
resenting the  whole  people.  Dr.  Baxter's  Official  Ke- 
port  shows  that  our  native  whites  were  over  an  inch 
taller  than  the  English,  and  nearly  two-thirds  of  an 
inch  taller  than  the  Scotch,  who,  in  height,  were  supe- 
rior to  all  other  foreigners.  At  the  age  of  completed 
growth,  the  Irish,  who  were  the  stoutest  of  the  for- 
eigners, surpassed  the  native  whites,  in  girth  of  chest, 
less  than  a  quarter  of  an  inch.  Statistics  as  to  weight 
are  meager,  but  Dr.  Baxter  remarks  that  it  is  perhaps 
not  too  much  to  say  that  the  war  statistics  show  "  that 
the  mean  weight  of  the  white  native  of  the  United 
States  is  not  disproportionate  to  his  stature."  Ameri- 
cans were  found  to  be  superior  to  Englishmen  not  only 
in  height,  but  also  in  chest-measurement  and  weight. 
Such  facts  afford  more  than  a  hint  that  the  higher  civ- 
ilization of  the  future  will  not  lack  an  adequate  physi- 
cal basis  in  the  people  of  the  United  States. 

Mr.  Darwin  is  not  only  disposed  to  see,  in  the  supe- 
rior vigor  of  our  people,  an  illustration  of  his  favorite 
theory  of  natural  selection,  but  even  intimates  that  the 
world's  history  thus  far  has  been  simply  preparatory 
for  our  future,  and  tributary  to  it.  He  says  :*  "There 
is  apparently  much  truth  in  the  belief  that  the  won- 
derful progress  of  the  United  States,  as  well  as  the 
character  of  the  people,  are  the  results  of  natural  se- 
lection; for  the  more  energetic,  restless,  and  coura- 
geous men  from  all  parts  of  Europe  have  emigrated 
during  the  last  ten  or  twelve  generations  to  that  great 
eountry,  and  have  there  succeeded  best.  Looking  at 
the  distant  future,  I  do  not  think  that  the  Kev.  Mr. 
Zincke  takes  an  exaggerated  view  when  he  says :  '  All 
*  "Descent  of  Man,"  Part  L,  page  142. 


AtfGLO-SAXOtt   AffD    THE  WORLDS   FUTURE.         171 

other  series  of  events — as  that  which  resulted  in  the 
culture  of  mind  in  Greeces  and  that  which  resulted  in 
the  Empire  of  Rome — only  appear  to  have  purpose  and 
value  when  viewed  in  connection  with,  or  rather  as 
subsidiary  to,  the  great  stream  of  Anglo-Saxon  emi- 
gration to  the  West.'  " 

There  is  abundant  reason  to  believe  that  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  race  is  to  be,  is,  indeed,  already  becoming,  more 
effective  here  than  in  the  mother  country.  The  marked 
superiority  of  this  race  is  due,  in  large  measure,  to  its 
highly  mixed  origin.  Says  Rawlinson:*  "It  is  a  gen- 
eral rule,  now  almost  universally  admitted  by  ethnolo- 
gists, that  the  mixed  races  of  mankind  are  superior  to 
the  pure  ones";  and  adds :  "  Even  the  Jews,  who  are 
so  often  cited  as  an  example  of  a  race  at  once  pure  and 
strong,  may,  with  more  reason,  be  adduced  on  the  op- 
posite side  of  the  argument."  The  ancient  Egyp- 
tians, the  Greeks,  and  the  Romans,  were  all  mixed 
races.  Among  modern  races,  the  most  conspicuous 
example  is  afforded  by  the  Anglo-Saxons.  Mr.  Green's 
studies  show  that  Mr.  Tennyson's  poetic  line, 
"  Saxon  and  Norman  and  Dane  are  we," 

must  be  supplemented  with  Celt  and  Gaul,  Welshman 
and  Irishman,  Frisian  and  Flamand,  French  Huguenot 
and  German  Palatine.  What  took  place  a  thousand 
years  ago  and  more  in  England  again  transpires  to- 
day in  the  United  States.  "History  repeats  itself"; 
but,  as  the  wheels  of  history  are  the  chariot  wheels  of 
the  Almighty,  there  is,  with  every  revolution,  an  on- 
ward movement  toward  the  goal  of  his  eternal  pur- 
poses. There  is  here  a  new  commingling  of  races ;  and, 
while  the  largest  injections  of  foreign  blood  are  substan- 

*  Princeton  Review,  for  Nov.,  1878. 


172    THE  ANGLO-SAXON  AND  THE  WORLD'S  FUTURE. 

tially  the  same  elements  that  constituted  the  original 
Anglo-Saxon  admixture,  so  that  we  may  infer  the  gen- 
eral type  will  be  preserved,  there  are  strains  of  other 
bloods  being  added,  which,  if  Mr.  Emerson's  remark  is 
true,  that  "  the  best  nations  are  those  most  widely  re- 
lated," may  be  expected  to  improve  the  stock,  and  aid 
it  to  a  higher  destiny.  If  the  dangers  of  immigration, 
which  have  been  pointed  out,  can  be  successfully  met 
for  the  next  few  years,  until  it  has  passed  its  climax,  it 
may  be  expected  to  add  value  to  the  amalgam  which 
will  constitute  the  new  Anglo-Saxon  race  of  the  New 
World.  Concerning  our  future,  Herbert  Spencer  says : 
"  One  great  result  is,  I  think,  tolerably  clear.  From 
biological  truths  it  is  to  be  inferred  that  the  eventual 
mixture  of  the  allied  varieties  of  the  Aryan  race,  form- 
ing the  population,  will  produce  a  more  powerful  type 
of  man  than  has  hitherto  existed,  and  a  type  of  man 
more  plastic,  more  adaptable,  more  capable  of  under- 
going the  modifications  needful  for  complete  social 
life.  I  think,  whatever  difficulties  they  may  have  to 
surmount,  and  whatever  tribulations  they  may  have  to 
pass  through,  the  Americans  may  reasonably  look  for- 
ward to  a  time  when  they  will  have  produced  a  civili- 
zation grander  than  any  the  world  has  known." 

It  may  be  easily  shown,  and  is  of  no  small  signifi- 
cance, that  the  two  great  ideas  of  which  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  is  the  exponent  are  having  a  fuller  development 
in  the  United  States  than  in  Great  Britain.  There  the 
union  of  Church  and  State  tends  strongly  to  paralyze 
some  of  the  members  of  the  body  of  Christ.  Here 
there  is  no  such  influence  to  destroy  spiritual  life  and 
power.  Here,  also,  has  been  evolved  the  form  of  gov- 
ernment consistent  with  the  largest  possible  civil  lib- 
erty. Furthermore,  it  is  significant  that  the  marked 


THE  ANGLO-SAXON  AND  THE  WOELD's  FUTUBE    173 

characteristics  of  this  race  are  being  here  emphasized 
most.  Among  the  most  striking  features  of  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  is  his  money-making  power — a  power  of  increas 
ing  importance  in  the  widening  commerce  of  the 
world's  future.  We  have  seen,  in  a  preceding  chapter, 
that,  although  England  is  by  far  the  richest  nation  of 
Europe,  we  have  already  outstripped  her  in  the  race 
after  wealth,  and  we  have  only  begun  the  development 
of  our  vast  resources. 

Again,  another  marked  characteristic  of  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  is  what  may  be  called  an  instinct  or  genius  for 
colonizing.  His  unequaled  energy,  his  indomitable 
perseverance,  and  his  personal  independence,  made  him 
a  pioneer.  He  excels  all  others  in  pushing  his  way  in- 
to new  countries.  It  was  those  in  whom  this  tendency 
was  strongest  that  came  to  America,  and  this  inherited 
tendency  has  been  further  developed  by  the  west- 
ward sweep  of  successive  generations  across  the  conti- 
nent. So  noticeable  has  this  characteristic  become 
that  English  visitors  remark  it.  Charles  Dickens  once 
said  that  the  typical  American  would  hesitate  to  enter 
heaven  unless  assured  that  he  could  go  further  west. 

Again,  nothing  more  manifestly  distinguishes  the 
Anglo-Saxon  than  his  intense  and  persistent  energy; 
and  he  is  developing  in  the  United  States  an  energy 
which,  in  eager  activity  and  effectiveness,  is  peculiarly 
American.  This  is  due  partly  to  the  fact  that  Ameri- 
cans are  much  better  fed  than  Europeans,  and  partly 
to  the  undeveloped  resources  of  a  new  country,  but 
more  largely  to  our  climate,  which  acts  as  a  constant 
stimulus.  Ten  years  after  the  landing  of  the  Pilgrims, 
the  Kev.  Francis  Higginson,  a  good  observer,  wrote : 
"A  sup  of  New  England  air  is  better  than  a  whole 
flagon  of  English  ale."  Thus  early  had  the  stimulating 


174    THE  ANGLO-SAXON  AND  THE  WORLD'S  FUTURE. 

effect  of  our  climate  been  noted.  Moreover,  our  social 
institutions  are  stimulating.  In  Europe  the  various 
ranks  of  society  are,  like  the  strata  of  the  earth,  fixed 
and  fossilized.  There  can  be  no  great  change  without 
a  terrible  upheaval,  a  social  earthquake.  Here  society 
is  like  the  waters  of  the  sea,  mobile  ;  as  General  Gar- 
field  said,  and  so  signally  illustrated  in  his  own  expe- 
rience, that  which  is  at  the  bottom  to-day  may  one  day 
flash  on  the  crest  of  the  highest  wave.  Every  one  is 
free  to  become  whatever  he  can  make  of  himself  ;  free 
to  transform  himself  from  a  rail-splitter  or  a  tanner  or 
a  canal-boy,  into  the  nation's  President.  Our  aristoc- 
racy, unlike  that  of  Europe,  is  open  to  all  comers. 
Wealth,  position,  influence,  are  prizes  offered  for  en- 
ergy; and  every  farmer's  boy,  every  apprentice  and 
clerk,  every  friendless  and  penniless  immigrant,  is  free 
to  enter  the  lists.  Thus  many  causes  co-operate  to 
produce  here  the  most  forceful  and  tremendous  energy 
in  the  world. 

What  is  the  significance  of  such  facts  1  These  tend- 
encies infold  the  future ;  they  are  the  mighty  alphabet 
with  which  God  writes  his  prophecies.  May  we  not, 
by  a  careful  laying  together  of  the  letters,  spell  out 
something  of  his  meaning  ?  It  seems  to  me  that  God, 
with  infinite  wisdom  and  skill,  is  training  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  race  for  an  hour  sure  to  come  in  the  world's 
future.  Heretofore  there  has  always  been  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  world  a  comparatively  unoccupied  land 
westward,  into  which  the  crowded  countries  of  the 
East  have  poured  their  surplus  populations.  But  the 
widening  waves  of  migration,  which  millenniums  ago 
rolled  east  and  west  from  the  valley  of  the  Euphrates, 
meet  to-day  on  our  Pacific  coast.  There  are  no  more 
new  worlds.  The  unoccupied  arable  lands  of  the  earth 


THE  ANGLO-SAXON  AND  THE  WORLDS  FUTURE.    17£ 

are  limited,  and  will  soon  be  taken.  The  time  is  com- 
ing when  the  pressure  of  population  on  the  means  oi 
subsistence  will  be  felt  here  as  it  is  now  felt  in  Europe 
and  Asia.  Then  will  the  world  enter  upon  a  new  stage 
of  its  history — the  final  competition  of  races,  for  which 
the  Anglo-Saxon  is  being  schooled.  Long  before  the 
thousand  millions  are  here,  the  mighty  centrifugal 
tendency,  inherent  in  this  stock  and  strengthened  in 
the  United  States,  will  assert  itself.  Then  this  race  oi 
unequaled  energy,  with  all  the  majesty  of  numbers  and 
the  might  of  wealth  behind  it — the  representative,  let 
us  hope,  of  the  largest  liberty,  the  purest  Christianity, 
the  highest  civilization — having  developed  peculiarly 
aggressive  traits  calculated  to  impress  its  institutions 
upon  mankind,  will  spread  itself  over  the  earth.  If  I 
read  not  amiss,  this  powerful  race  will  move  down  up- 
on  Mexico,  down  upon  Central  and  South  America,  out 
upon  the  islands  of  the  sea,  over  upon  Africa  and  be- 
yond. And  can  any  one  doubt  that  the  result  of  this 
competition  of  races  will  be  the  "  survival  of  the  fit- 
test"? "Any  people,"  says  Dr.  Bushnell,  "that  is 
physiologically  advanced  in  culture,  though  it  be  only 
in  a  degree  beyond  another  which  is  mingled  with  it 
on  strictly  equal  terms,  is  sure  to  live  down  and  finally 
live  out  its  inferior.  Nothing  can  save  the  inferior  race 
but  a  ready  and  pliant  assimilation.  Whether  the 
feebler  and  more  abject  races  are  going  to  be  regen- 
erated and  raised  up,  is  already  very  much  of  a  ques- 
tion. "What  if  it  should  be  God's  plan  to  people  the 
world  with  better  and  finer  material?  Certain  it  is, 
whatever  expectations  we  may  indulge,  that  there  is  a 
tremendous  overbearing  surge  of  power  in  the  Christian 
nations,  which,  if  the  others  are  not  speedily  raised  to 
some  vastly  higher  capacity,  will  inevitably  submerge 


176    THE  ANGLO-SAXON  AND  THE  WOULD7  S  FUTUBE. 

and  bury  them  forever.  These  great  populations  oi 
Christendom — what  are  they  doing,  but  throwing 
out  their  colonies  on  every  side,  and  populating  them- 
selves, if  I  may  so  speak,  into  the  possession  of  all 
countries  and  chines  f '  *  To  this  result  no  war  of  ex- 
termination is  needful ;  the  contest  is  not  one  of  arms, 
but  of  vitality  and  of  civilization.  "At  the  present 
day,"  says  Mr.  Darwin,  "civilized  nations  are  every- 
where supplanting  barbarous  nations,  excepting  where 
the  climate  opposes  a  deadly  barrier ;  and  they  succeed 
mainly,  though  not  exclusively,  through  their  arts, 
which  are  the  products  of  the  intellect  ?" f  Thus  the 
Finns  were  supplanted  by  the  Aryan  races  in  Europe 
and  Asia,  the  Tartars  by  the  Russians,  and  thus  the 
aborigines  of  North  America,  Australia  and  New  Zea- 
land are  now  disappearing  before  the  all-conquering 
Anglo-Saxons.  It  would  seem  as  if  these  inferior 
tribes  were  only  precursors  of  a  superior  race,  voices 
in  the  wilderness  crying :  "  Prepare  ye  the  way  of  the 
Lord !"  The  savage  is  a  hunter  ;  by  the  incoming  of 
civilization  the  game  is  driven  away  and  disappears  be- 
fore the  hunter  becomes  a  herder  or  an  agriculturist. 
The  savage  is  ignorant  of  many  diseases  of  civilization 
which,  when  he  is  exposed  to  them,  attack  him  before 
he  learns  how  to  treat  them.  Civilization  also  has  its 
rices,  of  which  the  uninitiated  savage  is  innocent.  He 
proves  an  apt  learner  of  vice,  but  dull  enough  in  the 
school  of  morals.  Every  civilization  has  its  destructive 
and  preservative  elements.  The  Anglo-Saxon  race 
would  speedily  decay  but  for  the  salt  of  Christianity. 
Bring  savages  into  contact  with  our  civilization,  and 
its  destructive  forces  become  operative  at  once,  while 

*  "Christian  Nurture,"  pp.  207,  213. 
t  "Descent  of  Man,"  Vol.  I,  p.  154. 


THE  ANGLO-SAXON  AND  THE  WOBLD^S  FUTUBE    177 

years  are  necessary  to  render  effective  the  saving  influ- 
ences of  Christian  instruction.  Moreover,  the  pioneer 
wave  of  our  civilization  carries  with  it  more  scum  than 
salt.  Where  there  is  one  missionary,  there  are  hundreds 
of  miners  or  traders  or  adventurers  ready  to  debauch 
the  native.  Whether  the  extinction  of  inferior  races 
before  the  advancing  Anglo-Saxon  seems  to  the  reader 
sad  or  otherwise,  it  certainly  appears  probable.  I 
know  of  nothing  except  climatic  conditions  to  prevent 
this  race  from  populating  Africa  as  it  has  peopled 
North  America.  And  those  portions  of  Africa  which 
are  unfavorable  to  Anglo-Saxon  life  are  less  extensive 
than  was  once  supposed.  The  Dutch  Boers,  after  two 
centuries  of  life  there,  are  as  hardy  as  any  race  on 
earth.  The  Anglo-Saxon  has  established  himself  in 
climates  totally  diverse — Canada,  South  Africa,  and 
India — and,  through  several  generations,  has  preserved 
h\s  essential  race  characteristics.  He  is  not,  of  course, 
superior  to  climatic  influences;  but,  even  in  warm 
climates,  he  is  likely  to  retain  his  aggressive  vigor  long 
enough  to  supplant  races  already  enfeebled.  Thus,  in 
what  Dr.  Bushnell  calls  "the  out-populating  power  of 
the  Christian  stock,"  may  be  found  God's  final  and 
complete  solution  of  the  dark  problem  of  heathenism 
among  many  inferior  peoples. 

Some  of  the  stronger  races,  doubtless,  may  be  able 
to  preserve  their  integrity;  but,  in  order  to  compete 
with  the  Anglo-Saxon,  they  will  probably  be  forced  to 
adopt  his  methods  and  instruments,  his  civilization 
and  his  religion.  Significant  movements  are  now  in 
progress  among  them.  While  the  Christian  religion 
was  never  more  vital,  or  its  hold  upon  the  Anglo-Saxon 
mind  stronger,  there  is  taking  place  among  the  nations 
a  wide-spread  intellectual  revolt  against  traditional  be- 


178    THE  ANGLO-SAXON  AND  THE  WORLDS  FUTURE. 

liefs.  uin  every  corner  of  the  world,"  says  Mr, 
Froude,*  "there  is  the  same  phenomenon  of  the  decay 
of  established  religions.  .  .  .  Among  Mohanu 
medans,  Jews,  Buddhists,  Brahmins,  traditionary 
creeds  are  losing  their  hold.  An  intellectual  revolu- 
tion is  sweeping  over  the  world,  breaking  down  es- 
tablished opinions,  dissolving  foundations  on  which 
historical  faiths  have  been  built  up."  The  contact  of 
Christian  with  heathen  nations  is  awaking  the  latter  to 
new  life.  Old  superstitions  are  loosening  their  grasp. 
The  dead  crust  of  fossil  faiths  is  being  shattered  by 
the  movements  of  life  underneath.  In  Catholic  coun- 
tries, Catholicism  is  losing  its  influence  over  educated 
minds,  and  in  some  cases  the  masses  have  already  lost 
all  faith  in  it.  Thus,  while  on  this  continent  God  is 
training  the  Anglo-Saxon  race  for  its  mission,  a  comple- 
mental  work  has  been  in  progress  in  the  great  world 
beyond.  God  has  two  hands.  Not  only  is  he  prepar- 
ing in  our  civilization  the  die  with  which  to  stamp  the 
nations,  but,  by  what  Southey  called  the  "timing  of 
Providence,"  he  is  preparing  mankind  to  receive  our 
impress. 

Is  there  room  for  reasonable  doubt  that  this  race, 
unless  devitalized  by  alcohol  and  tobacco,  is  destined 
to  dispossess  many  weaker  races,  assimilate  others, 
and  mold  the  remainder,  until,  in  a  very  true  and  im- 
portant sense,  it  has  Anglo-Saxonized  mankind  ?  Al- 
ready "  the  English  language,  saturated  with  Christian 
ideas,  gathering  up  into  itself  the  best  thought  of  all 
the  ages,  is  the  great  agent  of  Christian  civilization 
throughout  the  world ;  at  this  moment  affecting  the 
destinies  and  molding  the  character  of  half  the  human 

*  North  American  Review,  Dec.,  1879. 


THE  ANGLO-SAXON  AND  THE  WOBLD's  FUTURE.   179 

race."*  Jacob  Grimm,  the  German  philologist,  said 
of  this  language :  "  It  seems  chosen,  like  its  people,  to 
rule  in  future  times  in  a  still  greater  degree  in  all  the 
corners  of  the  earth."  He  predicted,  indeed,  that  the 
language  of  Shakespeare  would  eventually  become  the 
language  of  mankind.  Is  not  Tennyson's  noble 
prophecy  to  find  its  fulfillment  in  Anglo-Saxondom's 
extending  its  dominion  and  influence — 

"  Till  the  war-drum  throbs  no  longer,  and  the  battle-flags  are  furl'd 
In  the  Parliament  of  man,  the  Federation  of  the  world."  t 

In  my  own  mind,  there  is  no  doubt  that  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  is  to  exercise  the  commanding  influence  in  the 
world's  future ;  but  the  exact  nature  of  that  influence 
is,  as  yet,  undetermined.  How  far  his  civilization  will 
be  materialistic  and  atheistic,  and  how  long  it  will  take 
thoroughly  to  Christianize  and  sweeten  it,  how  rapidly 
he  will  hasten  the  coming  of  the  kingdom  wherein 
dwelleth  righteousness,  or  how  many  ages  he  may  re- 
tard it,  is  still  uncertain ;  but  it  is  now  being  swiftly 
determined.  Let  us  weld  together  in  a  chain  the  vari- 
ous links  of  our  logic  which  we  have  endeavored  to 
forge.  Is  it  manifest  that  the  Anglo-Saxon  holds  in 
his  hands  the  destinies  of  mankind  for  ages  to  come? 
Is  it  evident  that  the  United  States  is  to  be  the  home 
of  this  race,  the  principal  seat  of  his  power,  the  great 
center  of  his  influence  ?  Is  it  true  (see  Chap.  HE.)  that 
the  great  West  is  to  dominate  the  nation's  future! 
Has  it  been  shown  (Chapters  XI.  and  XH.)  that  this 
generation  is  to  determine  the  character,  and  hence 
the  destiny,  of  the  West  ?  Then  may  God  open  the 
eyes  of  this  generation !  When  Napoleon  drew  up  his 
troops  before  the  Mamelukes,  under  the  shadow  of  the 
Pyramids,  pointing  to  the  latter,  he  said  to  his  soldiers: 

*  Bev.  N.  a  Clark,  D.D.  t  "Locfcsley  Hall" 


180  MONEY   AND    THE   KINGDOM. 

"Remember  that  from  yonder  heights  forty  centuries 
look  down  on  you."  Men  of  this  generation,  from  the 
pyramid  top  of  opportunity  on  which  God  has  set  us, 
we  look  down  on  forty  centuries!  We  stretch  our 
hand  into  the  future  with  power  to  mold  the  destinies 
of  unborn  millions. 

"  We  are  living,  we  are  dwelling, 
In  a  grand  and  awful  time, 
In  an  age  on  ages  telling— 
To  be  living  is  sublime !» 

Notwithstanding  the  great  perils  which  threaten  it, 
I  cannot  think  our  civilization  will  perish ;  but  I  be- 
lieve it  is  fully  in  the  hands  of  the  Christians  of  the 
United  States,  during  the  next  fifteen  or  twenty  years, 
to  hasten  or  retard  the  coming  of  Christ's  kingdom  in 
the  world  by  hundreds,  and  perhaps  thousands,  of 
years.  We  of  this  generation  and  nation  occupy  the 
Gibraltar  of  the  ages  which  commands  the  world's 
future. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

MONEY   AND    THE   KINGDOM. 

PROPERTY  is  one  of  the  cardinal  facts  of  our  civiliza- 
tion. It  is  the  great  object  of  endeavor,  the  great 
spring  of  power,  the  great  occasion  of  discontent,  and 
one  of  the  great  sources  of  danger.  For  Christians  to 
apprehend  their  true  relations  to  money,  and  the  rela- 
tions of  money  to  the  kingdom  of  Christ  and  its 


MONEY  AND    THE   KINGDOM.  181 

progress  in  the  world,  is  to  find  the  key  to  many  of 
the  great  problems  now  pressing  for  solution. 

Money  is  power  in  the    concrete.     It    commands 
learning,  skill,  experience,  wisdom,  talent,  influence, 
numbers.     It  represents  the  school,  the  college,  the 
church,  the  printing-press,  and  all  evangelizing  ma- 
chinery.    It  confers  on  the  wise  man  a  sort  of  omni- 
presence.    By  means  of  it,  the  same  man  may,  at  the 
same  moment,  be  founding  an  academy  among   the 
Mormons,   teaching    the   New   Mexicans,   building   a 
home   missionary  church  in  Dakota,  translating  the 
Scriptures  in  Africa,  preaching  the  gospel  in  China, 
and  uttering  the  precepts  of  ten  thousand  Bibles  in 
India.     It   is   the   modern   miracle  worker;   it  has   a 
wonderful     multiplying     and     transforming     power. 
Sarah  Hosmer,  of  Lowell,  though  a  poor  woman,  sup- 
ported a  student  in  the  Nestorian  Seminary,  who  be- 
came a  preacher  of  Christ.     Five  times  she  gave  fifty 
dollars,  earning  the  money  in  a  factory,  and  sent  out 
five  native   pastors   to  Christian  work.     When  more 
than  sixty  years  old,  she  longed  to  furnish  Nestoria 
with  one  more  preacher  of  Christ ;  and,  living  in  an 
attic,  she  took  in  sewing  until  she,  had  accomplished 
her  cherished  purpose.     In  the  hands  of  this  conse- 
crated woman,  money  transformed  the  factory  girl  and 
the   seamstress   into  a  missionary  of  the   Cross,  and 
then  multiplied  her  six- fold.     God  forbid  that  I  should 
attribute  to  money  power  which  belongs  only  to  faith, 
love,  and  the  Holy  Spirit.     In  the  problem  of  Chris- 
tian work,  money  is  like  the  cipher,  worthless  alone, 
but  multiplying  many  fold  the  value  and  effectiveness 
of  other  factors. 

In  the  preceding  chapter  has  been  set  forth  the  won- 
derful opportunity  enjoyed  by  this  generation  in  the 


182  MONEY  AND    THE   KINGDOM. 

United  States.  It  lays  on  us  a  commensurate  obliga- 
tion. We  have  also  seen  (Chap.  IX.)  that  our  wealth 
is  stupendous.  If  our  responsibility  is  without  a  prece- 
dent, the  plenitude  of  our  power  is  likewise  without 
a  parallel.  Is  not  the  lesson  which  God  would  have 
us  learn  so  plain  that  he  who  runs  may  read  it  I  Has 
not  God  given  us  this  matchless  power  that  it  may  be 
applied  to  doing  this  matchless  work  ? 

The  kingdoms  of  this  world  will  not  have  become  the 
kingdoms  of  our  Lord  until  the  money  power  has  been 
Christianized.  "  Talent  has  been  Christianized  already 
on  a  large  scale.  The  political  power  of  states  and 
kingdoms  has  been  long  assumed  to  be,  and  now  at 
least  really  is,  as  far  as  it  becomes  their  accepted  office 
to*  maintain  personal  security  and  liberty.  Architec- 
ture, arts,  constitutions,  schools,  and  learning  have 
been  largely  Christianized.  But  the  money  power, 
which  is  one  of  the  most  operative  and  grandest  of  all, 
is  only  beginning  to  be ;  though  with  promising  to- 
kens of  a  finally  complete  reduction  to  Christ  and  the 
uses  of  His  Kingdom.  .  .  .  That  day,  when  it 
comes,  is  the  morning,  so  to  speak,  of  the  new  crea- 
tion."* Is  it  not  time  for  that  day  to  dawn  ?  If  we 
would  Christianize  our  Anglo-Saxon  civilization,  which 
is  to  spread  itself  over  the  earth,  has  not  the  hour 
come  for  the  church  to  teach  and  live  the  doctrines  of 
God's  Word  touching  possessions  ?  Their  general  ac- 
ceptance on  the  part  of  the  church  would  involve  a  ref- 
ormation scarcely  less  important  in  its  results  than  the 
great  reformation  of  the  sixteenth  century.  What  is 
needed  is  not  simply  an  increased  giving,  an  enlarged 
estimate  of  the  "  Lord's  share,"  but  a  radically  differ- 
ent conception  of  our  relations  to  our  possessions, 
*  Buslmell's  "Sermons  on  LiTing  Subjects,"  pp.  264, 265. 


MONEY   AND    THE   KINGDOM.  183 

Most  Christian  men  need  to  discover  that  they  are  not 
proprietors,  apportioning  their  own,  but  simply  trust- 
ees or  managers  of  God's  property.  All  Christians 
would  admit  that  there  is  a  sense  in  which  their  all  be- 
longs to  God,  but  deem  it  a  very  poetical  sense, 
wholly  unpractical  and  practically  unreal.  The  great 
majority  treat  their  possessions  exactly  as  they  would 
treat  property,  use  their  substance  exactly  as  if  it 
were  their  own. 

Christians  generally  hold  that  God  has  a  thoroughly 
real  claim  on  some  portion  of  their  income,  possibly  a 
tenth,  more  likely  no  definite  proportion ;  but  some 
small  part,  they  acknowledge,  belongs  to  him,  and  they 
hold  themselves  in  duty  bound  to  use  it  for  him.     This 
low  and  unchristian  view  has  sprung  apparently  from 
a  misconception   of  the   Old   Testament  doctrine  of 
tithes.     God  did  not,  for  the  surrender  of  a  part,  re- 
nounce  all  claim  to   the  remainder.      The   Jew  was 
taught,  in  language  most  explicit  and  oft-repeated,  that 
he  and  all  he  had  belonged  absolutely  to  God.     "  Be- 
hold, the  heaven  and  the  heaven  of  heavens  is  the 
Lord's,  thy  God,  and  the  earth  also,  with  all  that  there- 
in is."  (Deut.  x,  14).     "  The  earth  is  the  Lord's,  and 
the  fullness  thereof;  the  world,  and  they  that  dwell 
therein."  (Ps.  xxiv,  1).     "  The  silver  is  mine  and  the 
gold  is  mine,  saith  the  Lord."  (Hag.  ii,  8).     "Behold, 
all  souls  are  mine ;  as  the  soul  of  the  father,  so  also 
the  soul  of  the  son  is  mine."  (Ezek.  xviii,  4).     "When 
the  priest  was  consecrated,  the  blood  of  the  ram  was 
put  upon  the  right  ear,  the  thumb  of  the  right  hand, 
and  the  great  toe  of  the  right  foot,  to  indicate  that  he 
should  come  and  go,  use  his  hands  and  powers  of 
mind,  in  short,  his  entire  self,  in  the  service  of  God. 
These  parts  of  the  body  were  selected  as  representa- 


184  MONEY   AND    THE   KINGDOM. 

tive  of  the  whole  man.  The  tithe  was  likewise  repre- 
sentative. "For,  if  the  first  fruit  be  holy,  the  lump  is 
also  holy."  (Rom.  xi,  16).  Tithes  were  devoted  to 
certain  uses,  specified  by  God,  in  recognition  of  the 
fact  that  all  belonged  to  him. 


THE   PRINCIPLE    STATED. 

God's  claim  to  the  whole  rests  on  exactly  the  same 
ground  as  his  claim  to  a  part.  As  the  Creator,  he  must 
have  an  absolute  ownership  in  all  his  creatures ;  and, 
if  am  absolute  claim  could  be  strengthened,  it  would 
be  by  the  fact  that  he  who  gave  us  life  sustains  it,  and 
with  his  own  life  redeemed  it.  "Ye  are  not  your 
own;  for  ye  are  bought  with  a  price."  (I  Cor.  vi,  19, 
20).  Manifestly,  if  God  has  absolute  ownership  in  us, 
we  can  have  absolute  ownership  in  nothing  whatever. 
If  we  cannot  lay  claim  to  our  own  selves,  how  much 
less  to  that  which  we  find  in  our  hands.  When  we  say 
that  no  man  is  the  absolute  owner  of  property  to  the 
value  of  one  penny,  we  do  not  take  the  socialistic  posi- 
tion that  private  property  is  theft.  Because  of  our  in' 
dividual  trusts,  for  which  we  are  held  personally  re- 
sponsible,  we  have  individual  rights  touching  property, 
and  may  have  claims  one  against  another;  but,  be- 
tween God  and  the  soul,  the  distinction  of  thine  and 
mine  is  a  snare.  Does  one-tenth  belong  to  God  I  Then 
ten-tenths  are  his.  He  did  not  one-tenth  create  us 
and  we  nine-tenths  create  ourselves.  He  did  not  one- 
tenth  redeem  us  and  we  nine-tenths  redeem  ourselves. 
If  his  claim  to  a  part  is  good,  his  claim  to  the  whole  is 
equally  good.  His  ownership  in  us  is  no  joint  affair. 


MONEY   AND    THE   KINGDOM.  185 

We  are  not  in  partnership  with  him.     All  that  we  are 
and  have  is  utterly  his,  and  his  only. 

When  the  Scriptures  and  reason  speak  of  God's 
ownership  in  us  they  use  the  word  in  no  accommodated 
sense.  It  means  all  that  it  can  mean  in  a  court  of  law. 
It  means  that  God  has  a  right  to  the  service  of  his 
own.  It  means  that,  since  our  possessions  are  his 
property,  they  should  be  used  in  his  service — not  a 
fraction  of  them,  but  the  whole.  When  the  lord  re- 
turned from  the  far  country,  to  reckon  with  his  serv- 
ants to  whom  he  had  entrusted  his  goods,  he  demanded 
not  simply  a  small  portion  of  the  increase,  but  held  his 
servants  accountable  for  both  principal  and  interest — 
"  mine  own  with  usury."  Every  dollar  that  belongs  to 
God  must  serve  him.  And  it  is  not  enough  that  we 
make  a  good  use  of  our  means.  We  are  under  exactly 
the  same  obligations  to  make  the  best  use  of  our  money 
that  we  are  to  make  a  good  use  of  it ;  and  to  make  any 
use  of  it  other  than  the  best  is  a  maladministration  of 
trust.  Here,  then,  is  the  principle  always  applicable, 
that  of  our  entire  possessions  every  dollar,  every  cent, 
is  to  be  employed  in  the  way  that  will  best  honor  God. 


THE   PKINCIPLE   APPLIED. 

The  statement  of  this  principle  at  once  suggests 
difficulties  in  its  application.  Let  us  glance  at  some 
of  them, 

1.  An  attempt  to  regulate  personal  expenditures  by 
this  principle  affords  opportunity  for  fanaticism  on  the 
one  hand  and  for  self-deception  on  the  other ;  but  an 
honest  and  intelligent  application  of  it  will  avoid  both. 


186  MONEY  AND    THE   KINGDOM. 

Surely,  it  is  right  to  supply  our  necessities.  But 
what  are  necessities?  Advancing  civilization  multi- 
plies them.  Friction  matches  were  a  luxury  once,  a 
necessity  now.  And  may  we  allow  ourselves  nothing 
for  the  comforts  and  luxuries  of  life?  Where  shall  we 
draw  the  line  between  justifiable  and  unjustifiable  ex- 
penditure? 

The  Christian  has  given  himself  to  God,  or,  rather, 
has  recognized  and  accepted  the  divine  ownership  in 
him.  He  is  under  obligations  to  apply  every  power, 
whether  of  mind,  body,  or  possessions,  to  God's  ser- 
vice. He  is  bound  to  make  that  service  as  effective  as 
possible.  Certain  expenditures  upon  himself  are  nec- 
essary to  his  highest  growth  and  greatest  usefulness, 
and  are,  therefore,  not  only  permissible,  but  obliga- 
tory. All  the  money  which  will  yield  a  larger  return 
of  usefulness  in  the  world,  of  greater  good  to  the 
kingdom,  by  being  spent  on  ourselves  or  families  than 
by  being  applied  otherwise,  is  used  for  the  glory  of 
God,  and  is  better  spent  than  it  would  have  been  if 
given  to  missions.  And  whatever  money  is  spent  on 
self  that  would  have  yielded  larger  returns  of  useful- 
ness, if  applied  otherwise,  is  misapplied  ;  and,  if  it  has 
been  done  intelligently,  it  is  a  case  of  embezzlement. 

A  narrow  view  at  this  point  is  likely  to  lead  us  into 
fanaticism.  We  must  look  at  life  in  its  wide  relations, 
and  remember  that  character  is  its  supreme  end. 
Character  is  the  one  thing  in  the  universe,  so  far  as 
we  know,  which  is  of  absolute  worth,  and  therefore 
beyond  all  price.  The  glory  of  the  Infinite  is  all  of  it 
the  glory  of  character.  Every  expenditure  which 
serves  to  broaden  and  beautify  and  upbuild  character 
is  worthy.  The  one  question  ever  to  be  kept  in  mind 
is  whether  it  is  the  wisest  application  of  means  to  the 


MONEY   AND    THE    KINGDOM.  187 

desired  end.     Will  this  particular  application  of  power 
in  mon?ey  produce  the  largest  results  in  character  ? 

But  what  of  the  beautiful  I     How  far  may  we  gratify 
our  love  of  it?     A  delicate  and  difficult  question  to 
answer,  especially  to  the  satisfaction  of  those  living  in 
the  midst  of  a  luxurious  civilization.     Our  guiding 
principle  holds  here  as  everywhere,  only  its  application 
is  difficult.     It  is  difficult  to  determine  how  useful  the 
beautiful  may  be.    Doubtless,  at  times,  as  Victor  Hugo 
has  said,   "The  beautiful  is  as  useful   as  the  useful; 
perhaps  more  so."     The  ministry  of  art  widens  with 
the  increasing  refinement  of  the  nervous  organization. 
There  are  those  to  whom  the  beautiful  is,  in  an  im- 
portant sense,  a  necessity.     God  loves  the  beautiful. 
Each  flower  would  yield  its  seed  and  perpetuate  its 
kind  as  surely  if  each  blossom  were  not  a  smile  of  its 
Creator.     The  stars  would  swing  on  in   their  silent, 
solemn  march  as  true  to  gravitation,  if  they  did  not 
glow  like  mighty  rubies  and  emeralds  and  sapphires. 
The  clouds  would  be  as  faithful  carriers  of  the  bounty 
of  the  sea,  if  God  did  not  paint  their  morning  and 
evening  glory  from  the  rainbow  as  his  palette.     Yes ; 
God  loves  the  beautiful,  and  intended  we  should  love 
it ;  but  he  does  not  have  to  economize  his  power ;  his 
resources  are  not  limited.     When  he  spreads  the  splen- 
dors of  the  rising  East,  it  is  not  at  the  cost  of  bread 
enough  to  feed  ten  thousand  starving  souls.    Art  has 
an  educational  value  in  our  homes  and  schools  and 
parks  and  galleries;  but  how  far  may  one  who  recog- 
nizes his  Christian  stewardship  conscientiously  go  in 
the  encouragement  of  art  and  the  gratification  of  taste  ? 
If  every  man  did  his  duty,  gave  according  to  ability, 
there  would  be  abundant  provision  for  all  Christian 
and  philanthropic  work  and  substance  left  for  the  pat- 


188  MONEY   AND    THE    KINGDOM. 

ronage  of  art.  But  not  one  man  in  a  hundred  is  doing 
his  duty ;  hence  those  who  appreciate  the  necessities 
of  Christian  work  must  fill  the  breach,  are  not  at  lib- 
erty to  make  expenditures  which  would  otherwise  be 
wholly  justifiable.  Many  expenditures  are  right  ab- 
stractly considered.  That  is,  would  be  right  in  an 
ideal  condition  of  society.  But  the  condition  of  the 
world  is  not  ideal ;  we  are  surrounded  by  circumstances 
which  must  be  recognized  exactly  as  they  are.  Sin 
is  abnormal,  the  world  is  out  of  joint ;  and  such  facts 
lay  on  us  obligations  which  would  not  otherwise  ex- 
ist, make  sacrifices  necessary  which  would  not  other- 
wise be  binding,  forbid  the  gratification  of  tastes 
which  are  natural,  and  might  otherwise  be  indulged. 
Thrice  true  is  this  of  us  who  live  in  this  great  national 
crisis  and  world  emergency.  It  is  well  to  play  the 
violin,  but  not  when  Rome  is  burning. 

Here  is  a  large  family  of  which  the  husband  and 
father  is  a  contemptible  lounger  (if  loafers  had  any 
appreciation  of  the  eternal  fitness  of  things,  they  would 
die);  he  does  simply  nothing  for  the  support  of  the  fam- 
ily. Exceptional  cares  are,  therefore,  laid  on  the  wife  and 
mother.  She  must  expend  all  her  time  and  strength  to 
secure  the  bare  necessaries  of  life  for  her  children ; 
and  with  the  utmost  sacrifice  on  her  part  they  go  hun- 
gry and  cold.  If  her  wretched  husband  did  his  duty, 
she  could  command  time  and  means  to  beautify  the 
home  and  make  the  dress  of  herself  and  children  at- 
tractive; but,  under  the  circumstances,  it  would  be 
worse  than  foolish  for  her  to  spend  her  scant  earnings 
on  vases  and  flowers,  laces  and  velvets.  God  has  laid 
upon  Christian  nations  the  work  of  evangelizing  the 
heathen  world.  He  has  laid  on  us  the  duty  of  Chris- 
tianizing our  own  heathen,  and  under  such  conditions 


MONEY  AND    THE   KINGDOM.  189 

that  the    obligation  presses   with  an  overwhelming 
urgency.     If  this  duty  were  accepted  by  all  Christians, 
the  burden  would  rest  lightly  upon  each ;  but  great 
multitudes  in  the  church  are  shirking  all  responsibility. 
So  far  as  the  work  of  missions  is  concerned,  these 
members  of  the  household  of  faith  are  loungers.     The 
unfaithful  many  throw  unnatural  burdens  on  the  faith- 
ful few.     Under  these  circumstances  he  who  would  be 
faithful  must  accept  sacrifices  which  would  not  other- 
wise be  his  duty.     That  is,  the  principle  always  and 
everywhere  applicable,  that  we  are  under  obligations 
to  make  the  wisest  use  of  every  penny,  binds  him  to  a 
use  of  his  means  which,  if  every  Christian  did  his  duty, 
would  not  be  necessary.     Notwithstanding  all  the  sac- 
rifices made  by  some,  there  are  vast  multitudes,  which 
the  established  channels  of  beneficence  have  placed 
within  our  reach,  who  are  starving  for  the  bread  of 
life.     As  long  as  this  is  true,  must  not  high  uses  of 
money  yield  to  the  highest?     It  is  not  enough  to  be 
sure  that  we  are  making  a  good  use  of  means ;  for,  as 
the  Germans  say,  the  good  is  a  great  enemy  of  the 
best.     The  expenditure  of  a  large  sum  on  a  work  of 
art  may  be  a  good  use  of  the  money3  but  can  any  one 
not  purblind  with  selfishness  fail  to  see  that,  when  a 
thousand  dollars  actually  respresents  the  salvation  of ' 
a  certain  number  of  souls,  there  are  higher  uses  for  the 
money  1 

The  purchase  of  luxuries  is  often  justified  by  the 
following  fallacy :  "  I  am  giving  work  and  hence  bread 
to  the  poor ;  and  it  is  much  wiser  thus  to  let  them 
earn  it  than  to  encourage  them  in  idleness  by  bestow- 
ing the  price  of  the  lace  in  charity."  Thus  many  justify 
extravagance  and  make  their  luxuries  flatter  their  pride 
into  the  complacent  conviction  that  they  are  unselfish. 


190  MONEY   AND    THE   KINGDOM. 

An  economy  in  truth — forcing  the  same  act  to  minister 
at  once  to  self-indulgence  and  self -righteousness ! 
Does  it  make  no  difference  to  the  world  how  its  labor 
is  expended,  whether  on  something  useful  or  useless, 
for  high  uses  or  low?  "Many  hold  that  an  enormous 
expenditure  of  wealth  is  highly  commendable,  because 
it  *  makes  trade.7  They  forget  that  waste  is  not 
wealth-making;  war,  fire,  the  sinking  of  a  ship  also 
6  make  trade,'  because  by  destroying  existing  capital 
they  increase  demand.  The  wealth  thus  wasted  would, 
more  wisely  used,  give  work  to  many  more  people  in 
creating  more  wealth."* 

Again,  the  advocates  or  excusers  of  self-indulgence 
pose  as  the  vindicators  of  God's  love.  They  tell  us 
that  he  gave  all  good  things  for  the  uses  of  his  chil- 
dren, and  that  he  rejoices  in  their  delight.  Yes  ',  God 
is  even  more  benevolent  than  such  suppose.  So 
greatly  does  he  desire  our  joy  that  he  is  not  content  to 
see  us  satisfied  with  the  low  delights  of  self-gratifica- 
tion, but  would  fain  have  us  know  the  blessedness  of 
self-sacrifice  for  others.  The  writer  has  no  sympathy 
with  asceticism.  There  is  no  virtue  in  deformity  ; 
good  taste  is  not  unchristian ;  beauty  often  costs  no 
more  than  ugliness.  Away  with  the  idea  of  penance . 
It  belies  God,  and  caricatures  the  Christian  religion. 
It  differs  from  the  self-sacrifice  which  Christ  taught 
and  exemplified  as  widely  as  the  suicide  of  Cato 
differed  from  the  heroic  death  of  Arnold  von  Winkel- 
ried.  Christ  did  not  die  for  the  sake  of  dying,  but  to 
save  a  world ;  and  he  does  not  inculcate  self- 
denial  for  the  sake  of  self-denial,  but  for  the  sake  of 
others. 

Many  practice  self-denial,  if  not  for  its  own  sake, 
*  Economic  Tract  No.  X.    "  Of  Work  and  Wealth,"  by  R  R.  Bowker. 


MONEY  AND    THE   KINGDOM.  191 

only  for  the  sake  of  saving,  and  with  little  or  no  refer- 
ence to  giving.  Let  a  Japanese  heathen  show  us  a 
more  excellent  way.  I  take  the  following  account 
from  The  Missionary  Herald  (Sept.,  1883).  In  a 
certain  place,  and  generation  by  generation,  the  owner 
and  relatives  of  a  certain  house  prospered  greatly. 
Year  by  year,  those  persons,  on  the  second  day  of  the 
New  Year,  assembled  and  worshiped  the  god  IZannin 
Daimiyo-jin-san.  The  meaning  of  the  name  in  Eng- 
lish is  "  the  great,  bright  god  of  self-restraint."  After 
engaging  in  worship,  the  head  of  the  house  opened 
the  Kannin-bako  (self-restraint  box),  and  distributed 
to  the  needy  money  enough  to  enable  them  to  live  in 
comfort  for  a  time.  The  money  in  the  box  was  the 
annual  accumulation  of  his  offerings  to  his  god. 

Outsiders,  learning  of  the  prosperity,  worship,  and 
large  giving  to  the  needy,  which  characterized  this 
family,  were  astonished,  and  presented  themselves  to 
inquire  into  the  matter.  The  master  of  the  house,  in 
reply,  gave  the  following  account  of  the  practice  of  his 
household : 

"  From  ancient  times,  my  family  has  believed  in  and 
worshiped  'the  great,  bright  god  of  self-restraint.' 
We  have  also  made  a  box,  and  called  it  'the  self- 
restraint  box,'  for  the  reception  of  the  first-fruits  and 
other  percentages,  all  of  which  are  offered  to  our  god. 

"As  to  percentages,  this  is  our  mode  of  proceeding: 
If  I  would  buy  a  dollar  garment,  I  manage  by  self- 
restraint  and  economy  to  get  it  for  eighty  cents,  and 
the  remaining  twenty  cents  I  drop  into  *  the  self-re- 
straint box';  or,  if  I  would  give  a  five-dollar  feast  to 
my  friends,  I  exercise  self-restraint  and  economy,  and 
give  it  for  four,  dropping  the  remaining  dollar  into  the 
box;  or,  if  I  determine  to  build  a  house  that  shall  cost 


192  MONET  AND    THE   KINGDOM. 

one  hundred  dollars,  I  exercise  self-restraint  and 
economy,  and  build  it  for  eighty,  putting  the  remain- 
ing twenty  dollars  into  the  box  as  an  offering  to 
ITannin  Daimiyo-jin-san.  ...  In  proportion  to 
my  annual  outlays,  the  sum  in  this  box  is  large  or 
small.  This  year  my  outlays  have  been  large  ;  hence, 
by  the  practice  of  the  virtues  named,  the  amount  in 
'the  self-restraint  box'  is  great.  Yet,  notwithstand- 
ing this,  we  are  living  in  comfort,  peace,  and  happi- 
ness." Among  us,  outlays  and  benefactions  are  apt  to 
be  in  inverse,  instead  of  direct,  ratio.  I  am  strongly  in- 
clined to  think  that  Christians  could  gain  easy  forgive- 
ness for  a  little  idolatry  of  "the  great,  bright  god  of 
self-restraint."  And  if  the  "  self-restraint  box"  were 
marked  Home  Missions,  and  the  savings  resulting 
from  our  self-denial  were  dropped  into  it,  the  "  million 
dollars  a  year"  called  for  by  Dr.  Goodell,  in  1881, 
would  be  speedily  forthcoming. 

The  general  acceptance,  by  the  church,  of  the  Chris- 
tian principle  that  every  penny  is  to  be  used  in  the 
way  that  will  best  honor  God,  would  cause  every 
channel  of  benevolence  to  overflow  its  banks,  and 
occasion  a  blessed  freshet  of  salvation  throughout  the 
world.  "But,"  says  some  one,  "that  principle  de- 
mands daily  self-denial."  Undoubtedly;  and  that 
fact  is  the  Master's  seal  set  to  its  truth.  "  If  any  man 
will  come  after  me,  let  him  deny  himself,  and  take  up 
his  cross  DAILY,  and  follow  me."  (Luke  ix,  23). 

2.  And  there  are  no  exceptions  to  this  law  of  sacri- 
fice; it  binds  all  alike.  Christian  people  will  agree 
that  missionaries  are  called  to  make  great  sacrifices 
for  Christ ;  but  why  does  the  obligation  rest  on  them 
any  more  than  on  all  ?  Does  the  missionary  belong 
absolutely  to  God?  No  less  do  we.  Do  the  love 


MONE*    AND    THE   KINGDOM.  193 

sacrifice  of  Christ  lay  him  under  boundless  obligation? 
Christ  died  for  every  man.  Why  is  not  the  rich  man 
in  America  under  as  great  obligation  to  practice  self- 
sacrifice  for  the  salvation  of  the  heathen  as  the 
missionary  in  Central  Africa,  provided  his  sacrifice 
can  be  made  fruitful  of  their  good?  And  that  is 
exactly  the  provision  which  is  made  by  missionary 
boards  to-day.  They  establish  channels  of  intercom- 
munication which  bring  us  into  contact  with  all  heath- 
endom, and  make  Africa,  which,  centuries  ago,  fell 
among  thieves,  and  has  ever  since  been  robbed  and 
sore-wounded,  our  neighbor.  To  live  in  luxury,  and 
then  leave  a  legacy  for  missions,  does  not  fulfill  the 
law  of  sacrifice.  Every  steward  is  responsible  for  the 
disposition  of  his  trust  made  by  will.  The  obligation 
still  rests  upon  him  to  bestow  his  possessions  where, 
after  his  death,  they  will  do  most  for  God.  Legacies 
to  benevolent  societies  ought  to  be  greatly  multiplied, 
and  would  be,  if  the  principle  of  Christian  stewardship 
were  accepted ;  but  such  a  legacy  cannot  compound 
for  an  unconsecrated  life.  If  the  priest  or  Levite, 
who  passed  by  on  the  other  side,  wrote  a  codicil  to  his 
will,  providing  for  wounded  wayfarers,  I  fear  it  was 
hardly  counted  unto  him  for  righteousness,  was 
hardly  a  proof  that  he  loved  his  neighbor  as  himself. 
Christ  said :  "  Go  ye  into  all  the  world,  and  preach  the 
gospel";  and  he  did  not  say  it  to  the  twelve,  but  to  the 
whole  body  of  believers.  If  we  cannot  go  in  person,  we 
are  under  obligations  to  go  by  proxy.  The  rich  man 
has  more  power  to  send  than  the  missionary  has  to  go ; 
he  can,  perhaps,  send  a  dozen.  And  why  is  he  not  called 
to  make  as  great  sacrifices  in  sending  as  the  missionary 
in  going?*  The  obligations  of  all  men  rest  on  the 
*  Glance  at  some  of  the  sacrifices  of  missionaries  who  go  to  the  frontier. 


194  MONEY  AND    THE   KINGDOM. 

same  grounds.  The  law  of  sacrifice  is  universal.  "  If 
AN£  man  will  come  after  me  ";  that  means  Dives  and 
Lazarus  alike ;  the  terms  are  all-inclusive.  And  not 
only  must  all  men  sacrifice,  but  the  measure  of  sacrifice 
is  the  same  for  all.  God  does  not  ask  of  any  two  the 
same  gift,  because  to  no  two  are  his  gifts  the  same ; 
but  he  does  require  of  every  man  the  same  sacrifice. 
"Whosoever  he  be  of  you  that  forsaketh  not  ALL  THAT 
HE  HATH,  lie  cannot  be  my  disciple.1'  (Luke  xiv,  33). 
To  give  the  little  all  is  as  hard' as  to  give  the  abound- 
ing all.  In  both  cases  the  sacrifice  is  the  same  ;  for  it 
is  measured  less  by  what  is  given  than  by  what  re- 
mains. Only  when  the  sacrifice  is  all-inclusive  is  it 
perfect  and  entire,  It  is  the  sacrifice,  not  the  gift, 
which  is  the  essential  thing  in  God's  eye.  What  he 
demands  of  every  soul  is  a  complete  sacrifice — the  ab- 
solute surrender  of  self,  of  all  powers  and  all  posses  - 

Writing  to  the  Congregational  Union  for  aid  to  build  a  parsonage,  one  says : 

"Am  sleeping  in  a  shack  three  miles  from  town,  and  taking  my  meals  at 
the  hotel.  Not  a  house  or  building  of  any  kind  to  be  had  to  live  in.  My 
family  are  in  Ohio,  awaiting  arrangements  for  a  home.  Can  you  help  us  ?" 

Another  writes :  "  During  the  first  two  years'  service  here,  was  obliged  to 
live  in  Seattle,  seven  miles  away,  going  to  and  fro  on  foot.  For  one  year 
since,  have  occupied  such  a  building  as  I  could  erect  in  thirty  days,  with  my 
own  hands." 

Another :  "  My  wife  and  myself,  with  our  daughter  of  six  years,  have 
been  doing  our  best  to  live  (if  it  can  be  called  living)  in  an  attic  of  a  store. 
It  is  all  unfinished  inside.  By  putting  up  a  board  partition  we  have  two 
rooms.  To  reach  our  rooms  we  have  to  go  around  to  ihe  rear  of  the  store, 
and  make  our  way  among  boxes,  barrels,  tin  cans,  etc.,  to  the  foot  of  the 
outside  stairway  that  leads  to  our  attic.  We  are  doing  our  best  to  keep 
warm ;  but  with  mercury  twenty  degrees  below  zero  we  do  not  find  it  easy. 
Then  for  these  accommodations,  which  are  the  best  and  all  we  can  get,  we 
have  to  pay  $10  a  month.  Our  salary  is  only  $500.  Cannot  the  Union  loan 
us  $250,  to  help  us  build  ?" 

Another,  writing  for  a  loan,  says :  "  My  family  of  seven  lived,  all  summer, 
in  a  house  twelve  by  sixteen,  having  only  two  rooms." 

Many  are  heroically  enduring  hardship  for  the  Kingdom,  at  the  front, 
whose  sacrifices  would  be  less  if  ours  were  greater,  whose  sufferings  could 
be  relieved  if  our  luxuries  were  curtailed. 


MONEY   AND   THE   KINGDOM.  195 

sions ;  not  the  abandoning  of  the  latter  any  more  than 
of  the  former,  but  their  entire  surrender  to  God  to  be 
used  honestly  for  him.  In  George  Herbert's  noble 
words : 

"  Next  to  Sincerity,  remember  still, 

Thou  must  resolve  upon  Integrity. 
God  will  have  all  thou  hast ;  thy  mind,  thy  will, 
Thy  thoughts,  thy  words,  thy  works." 

Whatever  their  occupation,  Christians  have  but  one 
business  in  the  world;  viz.,  the  extending  of  Christ's 
Kingdom;  and  merchant,  mechanic,  and  banker  are 
under  exactly  the  same  obligations  to  be  wholly  conse- 
crated to  that  work  as  is  the  missionary. 

3.  One  who  believes  that  every  dollar  belongs  to 
God,  and  is  to  be  used  for  him,  will  not  imagine  that 
he  has  discharged  all  obligation  by  "  giving  a  tenth  to 
the  Lord."  One  who  talks  about  the  "  Lord's  tenth," 
probably  thinks  about  "his  own"  nine-tenths.  The 
question  is  not  what  proportion  belongs  to  God  1  But, 
having  given  all  to  him,  what  proportion  will  best 
honor  him  by  being  applied  to  the  uses  of  myself  and 
family,  and  what  proportion  will  best  honor  him  by 
being  applied  to  benevolent  uses  ?  Because  necessi- 
ties differ  this  proportion  will  differ.  One  man  has  a 
small  income  and  a  large  family  ;  another  has  a  large 
income  and  no  family  at  all.  Manifestly  the  propor- 
tion which  will  best  honor  God  by  being  applied  to 
benevolence  is  much  larger  in  the  one  case  than  in  the 
other.  God,  therefore,  requires  a  different  proportion 
to  be  thus  applied  in  the  two  cases.  If  men's  needs 
varied  directly  as  their  incomes,  it  might,  perhaps,  be 
practicable  and  reasonable  to  fix  on  some  definite  pro- 
portion as  due  from  all  to  Christian  and  benevolent 
work.  But,  while  men's  wants  are  quite  apt  to  grow 


196  MONEY   AND    THE    KINGDOM. 

with  their  income,  their  needs  do  not.*  A  man  whose 
income  is  five  hundred  dollars  may  have  the  same  needs 
as  his  neighbor  whose  income  is  fifty  thousand. 

There  are  multitudes  in  the  land  who,  after  having 
given  one-tenth  of  their  increase,  might  fare  sumptu- 
ously every  day,  gratify  every  whim,  and  live  with  the 
most  lavish  expenditure.  Would  that  fulfill  the  law 
of  Christ,  "  If  any  man  will  come  after  me  let  him 
deny  himself,  and  take  up  his  cross  daily  and  follow 
me"? 

There  is  always  a  tendency  to  substitute  form  for 
spirit,  rules  for  principles.  It  is  so  much  easier  to 
conform  the  conduct  to  a  rule  than  to  make  a  principle 
inform  the  whole  life.  Moses  prescribed  rules; 
Christ  inculcated  principles — rules  for  children,  prin- 
ciples for  men. 

The  law  of  tithes  was  given  when  the  race  was  in 
its  childhood,  and  the  relations  of  money  to  the  king- 
dom of  God  were  radically  different  from  what  they 
are  now.  The  Israelite  was  not  held  responsible  for 
the  conversion  of  the  world.  Money  had  no  such 
spiritual  equivalents  then  as  now ;  it  did  not  represent 
the  salvation  of  the  heathen.  The  Jew  was  required 
simply  to  make  provision  for  his  own  worship ;  and  its 
limited  demands  might  appropriately  be  met  by  levy- 
ing upon  a  certain  proportion  of  his  increase.  Pales- 
tine was  his  world  and  his  kindred  the  race ;  but,  under 
the  Christian  dispensation,  the  world  is  our  country, 
and  the  race  our  kindred.  The  needs  of  the  world  to- 
day are  boundless ;  hence,  every  man's  obligation  to 
supply  that  need  is  the  full  measure  of  his  ability ;  not 

*  When  John  Wesley's  income  was  £30,  he  lived  on  £28,  and  gave  two ; 
and  when  his  income  rose  to  £60,  and  afterwards  to  £120,  he  still  lived  on 
£38,  and  gave  all  tne  remainder. 


MONEY   AND    THE   KINGDOM.  197 

one-tenth,  or  any  other  fraction  of  it.  And  no  one  ex- 
ercises that  full  measure  until  he  has  sacrificed. 

By  all  means  let  there  be  system.  It  is  as  valuable 
in  giving  as  in  anything  else.  Proportionate  giving  to 
benevolence  is  both  reasonable  and  scriptural — "as 
God  hath  prospered."  It  is  well  to  fix  on  some  pro- 
portion of  income,  less  than  which  we  will  not  give, 
and  then  bring  expenses  within  the  limit  thus  laid 
down.  But  when  this  proportion  has  been  given — be 
it  a  tenth,  or  fifth,  or  half — it  does  not  follow  neces- 
sarily that  duty  has  been  fully  done.  There  can  be 
found  in  rules  no  substitute  for  an  honest  purpose  and 
a  consecrated  heart. 

4.  The  principle  that  every  dollar  is  to  be  used  in 
the  way  that  will  best  honor  God  is  as  applicable  to 
capital  as  to  increase  or  income,  and  in  many  cases 
requires  that  a  portion  of  capital  be  applied  directly  to 
benevolent  uses.  "  But,"  says  one,  "  I  must  not  give 
of  my  capital,  because  that  would  impair  my  ability  to 
give  in  the  future.  I  must  not  loll  the  goose  that  lays 
the  golden  egg."  The  objection  is  of  weight,  especial- 
ly in  ordinary  times ;  but  these  are  times  wholly  ex- 
traordinary ;  this  is  the  world's  emergency.  It  may  be 
quite  true  that  giving  one  dollar  now  out  of  your  cap- 
ital would  prevent  your  giving  five  dollars  fifteen 
years  hence.  But  it  should  be  remembered  that,  for 
home  missionary  work,  one  dollar  now  is  worth  ten 
dollars  fifteen  years  later.  This  saying  has  become 
proverbial  among  the  home  missionaries  of  the  West. 

Money,  like  corn,  has  a  twofold  power — that  of  min- 
istering to  want  and  that  of  reproduction.  If  there 
were  a  famine  in  the  land,  no  matter  how  sore  it  might 
be,  it  would  be  folly  to  grind  up  all  the  seed-corn  for 
food.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  suppose,  in  the  midst 


198  MONEY   AND    THE   KINGDOM. 

of  the  famine,  after  feeding  their  families  and  doling 
out  a  handful  in  charity,  the  farmers  put  all  the  in- 
crease back  into  the  ground,  and  do  it  year  after  year, 
while  the  world  is  starving.  That  would  be  something 
worse  than  foolish.  It  would  be  criminal.  Yet  that  is 
what  multitudes  of  men  are  doing.  Instead  of  apply- 
ing the  power  in  money  to  the  end  for  which  it  was 
entrusted  to  them,  they  use  it  almost  wholly  to  accu- 
mulate more  power.  A  miller  might  as  well  spend  his 
life  building  his  dam  high  and  higher,  and  never  turn 
the  water  to  his  wheel.  Bishop  Butler  said  to  his  sec- 
retary: "I  should  be  ashamed  of  myself,  if  I  could 
leave  ten  thousand  pounds  behind  me."  Many  pro- 
fessed Christians  die  disgracefully  and  "wickedlj 
rich."  The  shame  and  sin,  however,  lie  not  in  the 
fact  that  the  power  was  gathered,  but  that  it  was  un- 
wielded. 

It  is  the  duty  of  some  men  to  make  a  great  deal  of 
money.  God  has  given  to  them  the  money-making 
talent ;  and  it  is  as  wrong  to  bury  that  talent  as  to  bury 
a  talent  for  preaching.  It  is  every  man's  duty  to  wield 
the  widest  possible  power  for  righteousness ;  and  the 
power  in  money  must  be  gained  before  it  can  be  used. 
But  let  a  man  beware !  This  power  in  money  is  some- 
thing awful.  It  is  more  dangerous  than  dynamite. 
The  victims  of  "  saint-seducing  gold  "  are  numberless. 
If  a  Christian  grows  rich,  it  should  be  with  fear  and 
trembling,  lest  the  "  deceitfulness  of  riches"  undo  him ; 
for  Christ  spoke  of  the  salvation  of  a  rich  man  as  some- 
thing miraculous  (Luke  xviii,  24 — 27). 

Let  no  man  deceive  himself  by  saying  :  "1  will  give 
when  I  have  amassed  wealth.  I  desire  money  that  I 
may  do  good  with  it ;  but  I  will  not  give  now,  that  I 
may  give  the  more  largely  in  the  future-"  That  is  the 


MONEY   AND    THE   KINGDOM.  199 

pit  in  which  many  have  perished.  If  a  man  IB  growing 
large  in  wealth,  nothing  but  constant  and  generous 
giving  can  save  him  from  growing  small  in  soul.  In 
determining  the  amount  of  his  gifts  and  the  question 
whether  he  should  impair  his  capital,  or  to  what  ex- 
tent, a  man  should  never  lose  sight  of  a  distinct  and 
intelligent  aim  to  do  the  greatest  possible  good  in  a 
life-time.  Each  must  decide  for  himself  what  is  the 
wisest,  the  highest,  use  of  money ;  and  we  need  often 
to  remind  ourselves  of  the  constant  tendency  of  human 
nature  to  selfishness  and  self-deception. 


THE   PEINCIPLE   NOT   ACCEPTED. 

The  principle  which  has  been  stated  and  briefly  ap- 
plied, and  which  is  as  abundantly  sustained  by  reason 
as  it  is  clearly  taught  in  the  Scriptures,  is  not  ac- 
cepted by  the  Christian  Church.  There  are  many 
noble  gifts  and  noble  givers ;  but  they  only  help  us  to 
demonstrate  that  great  multitudes  in  the  church  have 
not  yet  learned  the  first  principles  of  Christian  giving. 
According  to  Dr.  Dorchester  there  were,  in  1880,  ten 
million  members  of  Evangelical  Protestant  churches 
in  the  United  States,  who,  from  1870  to  1880,  gave  an- 
nually for  missions,  home  and  foreign,  five  million  five 
hundred  thousand  dollars,*  an  average  of  fifty-five 
cents  for  each  church-member.  A  considerable  pro- 
portion, however,  is  given  by  church-goers  who  are  not 
church-members.  We  will  call  it,  therefore,  an  even 
fifty  cents  for  each  of  the  ten  million  professing  Chris- 

«  Dorchester's  "  Problem  of  Religious  Progress,"  pp.  552—555. 


200  MONEY   AND    THE    KINGDOM. 

tians.  But  many  thousands  give  a  dollar  each,  which 
means  that  as  many  thousands  more  give  nothing. 
There  are  some  thousands  who  give  ten  dollars  ;  and 
for  every  thousand  of  this  class  there  are  nineteen 
thousand  who  do  not  give  anything.  Dr.  Cuyler  says 
he  once  had  a  seamstress  in  his  church  who  used  to 
give  a  hundred  dollars  a  year  to  missions.  Not  a  few 
out  of  larger  means,  give  as  much ;  and,  for  every  one 
of  them,  there  are  one  hundred  and  ninety-nine  who 
give  nothing.  Some  give  five  thousand  dollars;  and 
for  each  of  them  there  are  ten  thousand  church-mem- 
bers who  do  not  give  one  cent  to  redeem  the  heathen 
world,  for  which  he  with  whom  they  profess  to  be  in 
sympathy  gave  his  life.  There  are  hundreds  of 
churches  that  do  not  give  anything  to  home  or  foreign 
missions ;  and  of  those  that  do  many  members  give 
nothing.  A  church  in  Hartford  gave  eleven  hundred 
dollars  to  home  missions.  One  lady  said  to  another : 
"Didn't  we  do  well  this  morning f  "  No  ;  not  as  a 
church,"  was  the  reply.  "  For  one  lady  gave  six  hun- 
dred dollars  and  one  gentleman  gave  three  hundred." 
If  church  collections  were  analyzed,  it  would  appear 
that,  as  a  rule,  by  far  the  greater  part  is  given  by  a 
very  few  persons,  and  they  not  the  most  able.  The 
great  majority  of  church-members  give  only  a  trifle  or 
nothing  at  all  for  the  work  of  missions. 

Five  million  five  hundred  thousand  dollars  for  this 
cause  sounds  like  a  large  sum.  But  great  and  small 
are  relative  terms.  Compared  with  the  need  of  the 
world  and  the  ability  of  the  church  it  is  pitiable  in- 
deed. Look  at  that  ability.  The  Christian  religion, 
by  rendering  men  temperate,  industrious,  and  moral, 
makes  them  prosperous.  There  are  but  few  of  the 
very  poor  in  our  churches.  The  great  question  has 


MONEY   AND    THE   KINGDOM.  201 

come  to  be :  "  How  can  we  reach  the  masses  t" 
Church-membership  is  made  up  chiefly  of  the  well-to- 
do  and  the  rich.*  On  the  other  hand,  a  majority  of  the 
membership  is  composed  of  women,  who  control  less 
money  than  men.  It  is,  therefore,  fair  to  say  that  the 
church-member  is  at  least  as  well  off  as  the  average 
citizen.  One-fifth,  then,  of  the  wealth  of  the  United 
States,  or  $8,728,400,000,  was  in  the  hands  of  church- 
members  in  1880 ;  and  this  takes  no  account  of  the 
immense  capital  in  brains  and  muscles.  Of  this  great 
wealth  one-sixteenth  part  of  one  per  cent.,  or  one  dol- 
lar out  of  fifteen  hundred  and  eighty-six,  is  given  in  a 
year  for  the  salvation  of  seven  or  eight  hundred  mil- 
lion heathen.  If  Christians  spent  every  cent  of  wages, 
salary,  and  other  income  on  themselves,  and  gave  to 
missions  only  one  cent  on  the  dollar  of  their  real  and 
personal  property,  their  contribution  would  be  $87,- 
284,000  instead  of  $5,500,000.  In  1880  they  paid  out 
nearly  six  times  as  much  for  sugar  and  molasses  as  for 
the  world's  salvation,  seven  times  as  much  for  boots 
and  shoes,  sixteen  times  as  much  for  cotton  and  wool- 
en goods,  eleven  times  as  much  for  meat,  and  eighteen 
times  as  much  for  bread.  From  1870  to  1880  the  ave- 
rage annual  increase  of  the  wealth  of  church-members 
was  $391,740,000.  And  this,  remember,  was  over  and 
above  all  expense  of  living  and  all  benevolences !  That 
is,  the  average  annual  increase  of  wealth  in  the  hands 
of  professed  Christians  was  seventy-one  times  greater 
than  their  offering  to  missions,  home  and  foreign. 
How  that  offering  looks,  when  compared  with  their 

*  The  Century  says  that,  of  the  fifty  leading  business  men  of  Columbus, 
Ohio,  and  Springfield,  Mass,  (if  we  are  not  mistaken  in  the  unnamed  cities), 
four-fifths  are  attendants  upon  the  churches  and  supporters  of  them,  while 
three-fifths  are  communicants. 


202  MONEY   AND    THE    KINGDOM. 

wealth  and  its  annual  increase,  may  be  seen  on  the  op 
posite  page. 

If  the  members  of  our  Sunday-schools  in  America 
gave,  each,  one  cent  a  Sabbath  to  missions,  it  would 
aggregate  nearly  as  much  as  is  now  secured,  with  end- 
less writing  and  pleading  and  praying,  from  our  entire 
church-membership.  If  each  of  these  professed  Chris- 
tians gave  five  cents — the  price  of  one  cigar — once  a 
week,  it  would  amount  in  a  year  to  $26,000,000.  If 
each  gave  one  cent  every  day  to  that  which  he  pro- 
fesses is  the  object  of  his  life — the  building  of  the 
Kingdom — it  would  amount  to  $36,500,000. 

Immense  sums  are  invested  freely  if  there  is  only  a 
chance  of  large  dividends.  The  Times  of  India  says 
that  "nearly  $25,000,000  have  been  invested  in  search 
for  gold  in  India,  and  that  not  $2,500  worth  of  the 
precious  metal  has  been  obtained  after  three  years  of 
labor/'  Christians  have  opportunities  to  invest,  and 
with  perfect  security,  where  they  will  realize  thirty, 
sixty,  a  hundred-fold — that  is  three  thousand,  six 
thousand,  ten  thousand  per  cent. — yet  how  few  and 
small  the  investments ! 

Seventy  business  men  of  New  York  subscribed 
$1,400,000,  or  $20,000  each,  toward  the  Metropolitan 
Opera  House  in  that  city,  which  was  completed  two 
years  ago  ;  and  this  without  receiving  or  expecting 
pecuniary  return.  "Where  are  the  seventy  men  who 
will  give  one-half  that  amount  to  home  missions'?  Is 
the  love  of  Italian  opera  a  more  powerful  motive  than 
love  of  country,  love  of  souls,  and  love  of  Christ  I 

It  is  commonly  agreed  that  the  annual  liquor  bill  of 
the  nation  is  $900,000,000.  As  comparatively  few 
women  and  children  use  intoxicating  drinks,  and  many 
men  do  not,  we  may  safely  assume  that  the  most  of 


Wealth,  of  Church,  JtCem&ers 
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MONEY   AND    THE   KINGDOM.  4         203 

that  amount  is  paid  by  one-fifth  of  the  population. 
That  is,  in  1880,  ten  million  people  paid  $900,000,000 
for  liquors,  and  the  same  number  of  professed  Chris- 
tians gave  $5,500,000  for  missions.  Any  one  that  did 
not  know  better  might  naturally  infer  that  the  one 
class  loves  beer  and  whisky  better  than  the  other 
loves  souls. 

The  other  day  a  brutal  prize-fighter  got  a  purse  of 
$12,000  for  pounding  an  opponent  into  pulp. 
Money  can  be  had  in  abundance  for  illegitimate  uses, 
but  a  thousand  interests,  dear  to  the  Master  as  the 
apple  of  his  eye,  must  languish  for  the  lack  of  funds. 
We  have  seen  that  there  is  no  lack  of  wealth ;  there  is 
money  enough  in  the  hands  of  church-members  to  sow 
every  acre  of  the  earth  with  the  seed  of  truth;  bufc  the 
average  Christian  deems  himself  a  despot  over  his 
purse.  God  has  intrusted  to  his  children  power 
enough  to  give  the  gospel  to  every  creature  by  the 
close  of  this  century ;  but  it  is  being  misapplied.  In- 
deed, the  world  would  have  been  evangelized  long 
ago,  if  Christians  had  perceived  the  relations  of  money 
to  the  Kingdom,  and  had  accepted  their  stewardship. 
There  has  been  too  much  of  the  spirit  of  an  Ohio 
church  treasurer  (a  professed  Christian),  who,  when 
his  pastor  brought  his  annual  contribution  to  the 
American  Board,  said  to  him :  "  You  ought  not  to  do 
it.  I  don't  think  it's  right.  You  ought  to  stop  giving 
to  missions,  and  preach  for  us  on  a  smaller  salary"; 
adding,  in  conclusion ;  "  We  are  heathen."  A  proposi- 
tion which  few  enlightened  men  would  be  disposed  to 
controvert,  though  it  is  a  hard  rub  on  the  heathen. 

When  the  heathen  come  to  the  light,  they  are  much 
more  Christian  in  their  conceptions  of  duty  and  privi- 
lege, and  shame  us  by  their  giving.  Six  native  Chri&- 


204       i,  MONEY  AND    THE   KINGDOM. 

tians,  living  on  the  banks  of  the  •  Euphrates, 
property  averaged,  perhaps,  eight  hundred  dollars, 
gave  towards  their  chapel  and  school-room  three  hun> 
dred  and  eight  dollars,  an  average  of  more  than  fifty 
dollars  each.  "  This  contribution,"  adds  the  mission- 
ary, "  means  for  one  of  those  poor  mountaineers  mor* 
than  one  thousand  days'  work"  " It  is  an  amazing 
circumstance  that,  in  1881,  the  1,200  church-members 
belonging  to  the  missions  of  the  United  Presbyterian 
Board,  in  Egypt — most  of  them  very  poor  men  and 
women — raised  £4,546,  or  more  than  $17  each,  for  the 
support  of  churches  and  schools.  The  Baptists,  among 
the  Karens,  have  done  equally  well."*  Yes;  that  is 
amazing ;  but  it  is  far  more  amazing  that  Christians  in 
rich  America  should  give  only  fifty  cents  each  to  mis- 
sions. If  we  gave  as  much  per  caput  to  home  and  for- 
eign missions  as  they  gave  for  churches  and  schools, 
our  offering  would  be  $170,0005000,  instead  of  $5,500,- 
000. 

Is  it  not  evident  that  most  of  our  church-members 
have  failed  to  learn  the  first  principles  of  Christian 
giving  ?  And  many  who  give  most  largely  do  not  seem 
to  have  grasped  fully  the  idea  of  stewardship,  and  to 
hold  themselves  under  obligations  to  use  every  dollar 
in  the  way  that  will  most  honor  God.  A  wealthy  cler- 
gyman (!),  who  was  a  munificent  giver,  saw,  in  Paris,  a 
pin  that  struck  his  fancy,  and  gave  $800  for  it  If,  in 
the  wide  world,  he  could  find  no  higher  use  for  the 
money,  it  was  his  duty  to  spend  it  as  he  did.  Many 
give  largely,  and  spend  as  lavishly  on  themselves  ;  nor 
is  it  strange,  in  view  of  the  instructions  often  given. 
A  pastor,  whose  fame  is  in  all  the  churches,  and  justly, 
writes 0'  "I  say  not, indeed, that  it  is  wrong  for  a  man 
*  Josepli  Cook,  "Occident,"  p.  126, 


MONEY   AND    THE   KINGDOM.  205 

to  take  such  a  position  in  society  as  his  riches  warrant 
him  to  assume,  or  that  there  is  sin  in  spending  money 
on  our  residences,  or  in  surrounding  ourselves  with  the 
treasures  of  human  wisdom  in  books,  or  the  triumphs 
of  human  art  in  pictures  and  statuary ;  but  I  do  say 
that  our  gifts  to  the  cause  of  God  ought  to  be  at  least 
abreast  of  our  expenditure  for  these  other  things." 
And  a  worthy  secretary  of  one  of  our  most  honored 
benevolent  societies  says :  "  He  shall  see  the  travail  of 
his  soul  and  be  satisfied — When?  Not  till  beneficence 
keeps  pace  with  luxury."  Will  that  satisfy  him  who 
commended  her  that  cast  into  the  treasury  all  her  liv- 
ing, who  requires  of  his  followers  daily  cross-bearing, 
and  admits  no  one  to  discipleship  who  has  not  forsaken 
"all  that  he  hath"?  Is  the  Master  satisfied  when  a 
rich  man,  to  gratify  "a  nice  and  curious  palate,"  spends 
ten  thousand  a  year  on  his  table,  provided  only  benef- 
icence keeps  pace  with  his  luxury,  and  he  gives  as 
much  more  to  missions  ?  Or,  is  it  untrue  that  God 
requires  every  one  to  make  the  wisest  and  best  use  of 
all  his.  money  ? 

Many  churches  are  never  taught  that  the  consecra- 
tion of  all  our  property  to  God  is  no  more  optional 
than  the  practice  of  justice  or  chastity  or  any  other 
duty.  Most  Christians  leave  their  giving  to  mere  im- 
pulse ;  they  give  something  or  nothing,  much  or  little, 
as  they  feel  like  it.  They  might  as  well  attempt  to 
live  a  Christian  life  and  be  honest  or  not,  as  they  felt 
like  it.  The  churches  are  not  adequately  instructed  as 
to  this  duty.  They  hear  too  often  of  the  "Lord's 
share."  The  reformation  must  begin  with  the  pulpit. 
While  I  would  not  seem  censorious  of  my  brethren,  it 
must  nevertheless  be  said  that  too  many  ministers  have 
not  laid  hold  of  this  truth,  or,  at  least,  it  has  not  laid 
hold  of  them. 


206  MONEY   AND    THE   KINGDOM. 

No,  there  is  no  lack  of  wealth  in  the  churches,  even 
in  hard  times.  When  the  rod  of  conviction  and  con- 
secration smites  the  flinty  rock  of  selfishness,  it  will 
break  asunder  and  send  forth  abundant  streams  of  ben- 
efaction, which  shall  make  glad  the  waste  places  and 
prove  the  water  of  life  to  the  perishing  multitudes. 


ACCEPTANCE   OF   THE   PRINCIPLE  URGED. 

Having  defined  the  true  principle  of  Christian  giving, 
and  glanced  at  some  of  the  questions  of  casuistry 
which  spring  from  its  application,  and  having  shown 
that  the  church  does  not  act  on  it,  it  remains  to  present 
briefly  some  of  the  considerations  which  urge  its  ac- 
ceptance. 

1.  Duty.  It  is  common  to  urge  benevolence  by  ap- 
pealing to  the  hope  of  larger  returns,  which  are 
assured  by  many  promises  of  the  "Word.  And  such 
motives  were  needed  in  the  childhood  of  the  race ;  but 
with  al]  our  light  they  should  not  be  needed  now.  Did 
not  Christ  place  giving  on  a  higher  plane  ?  He  said, 
"It  is  more  blessed  to  give  than  to  receive,"  not  be- 
cause of  the  return ;  but  because  giving  is  more  God- 
like. Men  urge  benevolence  as  an  investment.  It  is 
true  that  the  steward  whom  God  finds  faithful,  he  is 
very  apt  to  honor  with  a  larger  trust ;  but  this  should 
not  be  the  motive  of  giving.  We  should  "  do  good, 
and  lend,  hoping  for  nothing  again."  It  is  true  that 
honesty  is  the  best  policy ;  but  if  this  be  the  motive  of 
honest  dealing,  there  is  no  real  honesty.  So  when  men 
give  because  they  expect  a  larger  return,  there  is  no 
real  giving.  In  the  region  of  right  and  wrong  we  may 


MONEY  AND    THE   KINGDOM.  207 

not  ask  what  is  politic ;  we  stand  under  the  scepter  of 
the  absolute  Ought,  which  does  not  reason  or  advise 
or  plead,  but  simply  says :  Thou  shalt.  Whether  or 
not  we  have  learned  that  only  that  which  we  give  is 
truly  and  forever  ours,  the  duty  to  give  remains  the 
same.  The  fact  that  God  requires  the  entire  consecra- 
tion of  all  our  substance,  ought,  <alone,  to  be  sufficient 
to  move  us ;  but  there  are  other  considerations. 

2.  The  spiritual  life  and  power  of  the  churches  de- 
mand the  acceptance  of  the  true  doctrine  touching 
possessions.  We  talk  about  "  our  crosses."  There  is 
no  such  expression  in  the  Bible.  The  word  does  not 
occur  there  in  the  plural.  It  has  been  belittled ;  it  has 
come  to  mean  trial,  disagreeable  duty,  anything  which 
crosses  our  inclination  ;  but  its  meaning  in  the  Scrip- 
tures is  never  so  meager  as  that.  There  it  always 
means  crucifixion;  like  the  word  gallows,  in  modern 
speech,  it  means  death.  To  take  one's  cross  means,  in 
the  Bible,  to  start  for  the  place  of  execution.  "  If  any 
man  will  come  after  me,  let  him  take  up  his  cross  and 
follow  me."  Follow  him  where  ?  To  Golgotha.  He 
in  whose  experience  there  is  no  Calvary  where  he  him- 
self has  been  crucified  with  Christ,  knows  little  of 
Christian  discipleship.  Christ  demands  actual  self- 
abnegation  ;  but  where  the  Christian  name  is  honored, 
and  its  profession  confers  obvious  advantages,  self- 
deception  is  common  and  Christian  experience  is  liable 
to  be  shallow.  As  quaint  old  Kutherford  said :  u  Men 
get  Christ  for  the  half  of  nothing — such  maketh  loose 
work."  Too  many  church-members  know  little  or 
nothing  of  self -surrender  ;  hence  the  lack  of  spiritual 
life  and  power.  At  such  times  the  church  suffers  for 
the  want  of  some  decisive  test,  the  application  of  which 
will  show  men  to  themselves,  and  separate,  with  a  good 


208  MONEY   AND    THE   KINGDOM. 

degree  of  accuracy,  those  who  have  been  crucified  with 
Christ  from  those  who  know  not  what  it  is  to  "  take  up 
the  cross." 

In  a  commercial  age,  and  especially  in  a  luxurious 
civilization,  the  form  of  worldliness  to  which  the  church 
is  most  likely  to  be  tempted  is  the  love  of  money.  As 
the  means  of  almost  every  possible  self -gratification  it 
becomes  the  representative  of  self;  hence  the  true 
principle  of  Christian  giving,  the  actual  surrender  of 
all  substance  to  God,  is  exactly  the  test  for  the  ap- 
plication of  which  the  church  is  suffering  to-day.  If 
this  test  were  applied  now  to  every  church-member  as 
Christ  applied  it  to  the  young  ruler  (and  the  need  is 
the  same,  for  the  human  heart  is  the  same,  and  heaven 
and  the  conditions  of  entrance  are  the  same),  would  no^ 
the  record  in  many  a  case  be,  "  and  he  went  away  sor- 
rowful, for  he  had  great  possessions  "? 

What  right  has  any  one,  who  has  light  on  this  sub- 
ject, to  believe  he  has  given  himself  to  God,  if  he  has 
not  given  his  possessions?  If  he  has  kept  back  the 
less,  what  reason  is  there  to  think  he  has  given  the 
greater  I  As  Jeremy  Taylor  says  :*  "  He  never  loved 
God  who  will  quit  anything  of  his  religion  to  save  his 
money." 

Is  not  much  that  the  Master  said  concerning  posses- 
sions a  dead  letter  in  the  church  of  to-day  1  "  Lay  not 
up  for  yourselves  treasures  upon  earth."  Is  not  that 
exactly  what  many  in  the  church  are  doing,  and  many 
more  striving  with  eager  energy  to  do  ?  "  The  deceit- 
fulness  of  riches."  How  many  are  afraid  of  being  de- 
ceived by  them  ?  How  many  refuse  to  run  the  risk  ? 
"  How  hardly  shall  they  that  have  riches  enter  into  the 

*  "  Holy  Living,"  p.  184. 


MONEY   AND    THE    KiJNi*uOM.  209 

Kingdom  of  Heaven."  How  many  are  unwilling  to  be* 
come  rich  or  richer  ?  Multitudes  now  complain  that 
they  have  so  little  who,  on  the  great  day  of  accounts, 
will  mourn  that  they  had  so  much.  The  Word  declares 
covetousness  to  be  idolatry;  but  how  many  church- 
members  were  ever  disciplined  for  this  idolatry  I  There 
is,  however,  a  sign  of  the  millennium  down  in  Maine, 
where,  about  a  year  ago,  a  church  disciplined  five  mem- 
bers because  they  would  give  nothing. 

The  spiritual  life  and  power  of  the  church  can  vital- 
ize and  save  the  world  only  when  there  is  a  spirit  of 
consecration  sufficiently  deep  and  inclusive  to  accept 
the  true  principle  of  Christian  giving. 

3.  Again,  our  safety  from  the  perils  which  have  been 
discussed  demands  the  acceptance  of  this  principle. 

It  is  not  urged  as  a  panacea;  specific  remedies, 
which  there  is  no  space  to  discuss,  must  be  applied ; 
reforms  must  be  pressed  ;  we  need  patriotic  and  wise 
legislation,  and  to  this  end  fewer  politicians  and  more 
statesmen ;  but  statesmanship  cannot  save  the  country. 
Christ's  refusal  to  be  made  a  king,  and  his  rejection  of 
Satan's  offer  of  the  world's  scepter,  ought  to  teach  those 
who  seek  to  save  the  world  that  moral  means  are  nec- 
essary to  moral  ends.  Christ  saw  that  the  world  could 
not  be  saved  by  legislation,  that  only  by  his  being 
"  lifted  up "  could  all  men  be  drawn  unto  him.  He 
saw  that  he  could  not  save  the  world  without  sacrific- 
ing for  it ;  no  more  can  we.  The  saving  power  of  the 
church  is  its  sacrificing  power. 

The  gospel  is  the  radical  cure  of  the  world's  great 
evils,  and  its  promulgation,  like  its  spirit,  requires 
sacrifice.  Money  is  the  sinews  of  spiritual  warfare  as 
well  as  carnal,  and  a  sufficient  amount  of  it  would  en- 
able us  to  meet  these  perils  with  the  gospel. 


210  MONEY   AND    THE    KINGDOM. 

Christianize  the  immigrant  and  he  will  be  easily 
Americanized.  Christianity  is  the  solvent  of  all  race 
antipathies.  Give  the  Romanist  a  pure  gospel  and  he 
will  cease  to  be  a  Romanist.  It  has  already  been  shown 
that  Christian  education  will  solve  the  Mormon  prob- 
lem. The  temperance  reform,  like  all  others  which  de- 
pend on  popular  agitation,  must  have  money,  and  i* 
being  retarded  by  the  lack  of  it.  Concerning  the  rem- 
edy for  socialism,  accept  the  opinion  of  an  economist 
who  has  made  it  a  subject  of  special  study.  Says  Prof. 
Ely :  "  It  is  an  undoubted  fact  that  modern  socialism 
of  the  worst  type  is  spreading  to  an  alarming  extent 
among  our  laboring  classes,  both  foreign  and  native.  I 
think  the  danger  is  of  such  a  character  as  should  arouse 
the  Christian  people  of  this  country  to  most  earnest 
efforts  for  the  evangelization  of  the  poorer  classes, 
particularly  in  large  cities.  What  is  needed  is  Chris- 
tianity, and  the  Christian  church  can  do  far  more  than 
political  economists  toward  a  reconciliation  of  social 
classes.  The  church's  remedy  for  social  discontent  and 
dynamite  bombs  is  Christianity  as  taught  in  the  New 
Testament.  Now  in  all  this  you  will  find  nothing  new. 
It  is  only  significant  in  this  regard :  others  have  come 
to  these  conclusions  from  the  study  of  the  Bible ;  from 
a  totally  different  starting  point,  from  the  study  of 
political  economy,  I  have  come  to  the  same  goal."* 

But  the  acceptance  of  the  Christian  doctrine  con- 
cerning property  would  have  a  direct,  as  well  as  indi- 
rect, influence  on  socialism.  Let  us,  therefore,  dwell 
a  moment  on  the  subject. 

In  the  popular  ferment,  a  hundred  years  ago,  which 

*  From  a  letter  by  Prof.  R.  T.  Ely  to  Kev.  H.  A.  Schauffier.  I  regret  that 
lack  of  space  forbids  my  quoting  the  entire  letter,  wMcli  maj  be  found  ix 
The  Home  Missionary  for  Oct.,  1884,  p.  22T. 


MONEY   AND    THE   KINGDOM.  211 

culminated  in  the  French  ^Revolution,  the  demand  was 
for  equal  rights  and  the  watchword  was  Liberty.  There 
is  a  popular  ferment  throughout  Europe  to-day  which 
is  more  universal  and  extends  to  the  United  States. 
The  popular  demand  now  is  equality  of  condition,  and 
the  watchword  is  Property — a  cry  the  meaning  of 
which  the  dullest  and  most  earthly  can  understand. 
This  movement,  which  is  steadily  gathering  force,  re- 
sults from  the  two  most  striking  facts  of  the  Nineteenth 
century :  first,  the  general  diffusion  of  knowledge 
through  the  press,  which  has  wonderfully  multiplied 
wants  up  and  down  the  entire  social  scale ;  and,  sec- 
ond, the  creation  of  immense  wealth  by  means  of  the 
steam  engine.  But  this  wealth,  which  is  necessary  to 
the  satisfaction  of  these  wants,  has  been  massed.  In  a 
word,  the  difficulty  is  knowledge  multiplied  and  popu- 
larized, and  wealth  multiplied  and  centralized. 

The  right  distribution  of  property,  which  is  the  ker- 
nel of  the  social  question,  is  the  great  problem  of  our 
civilization ;  and  it  may  well  be  doubted  whether  the 
true  solution  will  be  found  until  the  church  accepts, 
both  in  doctrine  and  practice,  the  teaching  of  God's 
"Word  touching  possessions.  For  the  church  is  re- 
sponsible for  public  opinion  on  all  moral  questions,  and 
no  great  question  of  rights  can  be  settled  for  the  world 
until  Christian  men  come  into  right  relations  with  it. 

The  inexorable  law  of  our  present  industrial  system 
is  that  the  cost  of  subsistence  determines  the  rate  of 
wages.  This  makes  no  provision  for  the  higher  wants 
of  increasing  intelligence,  and  therefore  insures  an  in- 
creasing popular  discontent.  It  would  seem  that  the 
solution  of  the  great  difficulties  between  capital  and 
labor  must  be  found  in  some  form  of  co-operation  by 
which  the  workman  will  be  admitted  to  a  just  share  in 


212  MONET   AND    THE   KINGDOM. 

the  profits  of  his  labor.  Professor  Cairns,  who  is  con- 
sidered one  of  the  greatest  economists  England  has 
produced,  believes  that  co-operative  production  affords 
the  laboring  classes  "  the  sole  means  of  escape  from  a 
harsh  and  hopeless  destiny"  ("  Leading  Principles,"  p. 
338).  Referring  to  several  thousand  co-operative  so- 
cieties in  England,  having  some  millions  of  capital, 
Thomas  Hughes  says  :  "  I  still  look  to  this  movement 
as  the  best  hope  for  England  and  other  lands."  The 
eminent  statistician,  Carroll  D.  Wright,  the  head  of 
the  Massachusetts  Bureau  of  Statistics  of  Labor,  re- 
ferring to  the  duty  of  the  rich  manufacturer  to  regard 
himself  as  "  an  instrument  of  God  for  the  upbuilding 
of  the  race,"  and  the  promotion  of  the  highest  welfare 
of  those  in  his  employ,  says :  "  This  may  sound  like 
sentiment.  I  am  willing  to  call  it  sentiment ;  but  I 
know  it  means  the  best  material  prosperity,  and  that 
every  employer  who  has  been  guided  by  such  senti- 
ments has  been  rewarded  two-fold  ;  first,  in  witnessing 
the  wonderful  improvement  of  his  people,  and,  second, 
in  seeing  his  dividends  increase,  and  the  wages  of  ins 
operatives  increase  with  his  dividends.  The  factory 
system  of  the  future  will  be  run  on  this  basis.  The 
instances  of  such  are  multiplying  rapidly  now."  Man- 
ifestly, the  acceptance  on  the  part  of  Christian  capital- 
ists of  the  scriptural  doctrine  of  possessions  would 
greatly  facilitate  the  introduction  of  co-operation  or 
any  other  plan  which  promised  justice  to  the  work- 
man. 

The  Christian  man  who  is  not  willing  to  make  the 
largest  profits  which  an  honest  regard  for  the  laws  of 
trade  permits  is  a  rare  man.  But  the  laws  of  trade 
permit  much  that  the  laws  of  God  do  not  permit. 
Many  transactions  are  commercially  honest  which  ax> 


MONEY   AND    THE   KINGDOM.  213 

not  righteous.  If,  now,  a  man  accepts  the  truth  that 
his  possessions  are  a  trust  to  be  administered  for  God's 
glory,  he  will  not  consent  to  increase  them  by  any  un- 
righteous means.  And  since  justice  and  righteousness, 
like  honesty,  will  prove  to  be  the  best  policy,  the  ac- 
ceptance on  the  part  of  Christian  men  of  a  thoroughly 
righteous  plan  of  co-operation  between  capital  and  la- 
bor would  eventually  compel  its  general  acceptance. 
Let  Christian  men  gain  a  correct  conception  of  their 
relations  to  their  possessions,  let  them  accept  the  duty 
of  Christian  stewardship,  and  it  would  command  their 
getting  as  well  as  their  spending.  There  would  be  no 
motive  to  drive  a  sharp  bargain.  It  would  purify 
trade.  It  would  mediate  between  capital  and  labor. 
It  would  destroy  the  foundation  on  which  the  rising 
structure  of  socialism  rests.  It  would  cut  one  of  the 
principal  roots  of  popular  unbelief ;  for  extended  in- 
quiry in  Cincinnati  elicited  the  almost  unanimous  re- 
sponse that  the  reason  workingmen  neglect  the 
churches  is  that  there  are  on  the  church  rolls  the 
names  of  employers  who  wrong  their  employes. 

The  acceptance  of  the  true  principle  of  Christian 
giving  is  urged  upon  us  by  the  fact  that  money  is 
power,  which  is  needed  everywhere  for  elevating  and 
saving  men.  It  is  further  urged  upon  us  by  the  fact 
that  only  such  a  view  of  possessions  will  save  us  from 
the  great  and  imminent  perils  of  wealth.  God  might 
have  sent  his  angels  to  sing  his  gospel  through  the 
world,  or  he  might  have  written  it  on  the  sky,  and 
made  the  clouds  his  messengers  ;  but  we  need  to  bear 
the  responsibility  of  publishing  that  gospel.  He  might 
mak^  the  safe  of  every  benevolent  society  a  gold  mine 
as  unfailing  as  the  widow's  cruse  of  oil ;  but  we  need 
to  give  that  gold.  The  tendency  of  human  nature,  in- 


214  MONEY  AND    THE   KINGDOM. 

tensified  by  our  commercial  activity,  is  to  make  the  life 
a  whirlpool — a  great  maelstrom  which  draws  every- 
thing into  itself.  "What  is  needed  to-day  is  a  grand  re- 
versal of  the  movement,  a  transformation  of  the  life 
into  a  fountain.  And  in  an  exceptional  degree  is  this 
the  need  of  Anglo-Saxons.  Their  strong  love  of  lib- 
erty, and  their  acquisitiveness,  afford  a  powerful  temp- 
tation to  offer  some  substitute  for  self-abnegation. 
We  would  call  no  man  master.  We  must  take  Christ 
as  master.  We  would  possess  all  things ;  we  must 
surrender  all  things. 

One  of  the  grave  problems  before  us  is  how  to  make 
great  material  prosperity  conduce  to  individual  ad- 
vancement. The  severest  poverty  is  unfavorable  to 
morality.  Up  to  a  certain  point  increase  of  property 
serves  to  elevate  man  morally  and  intellectually,  while 
it  improves  him  physically.  But,  as  nations  grow  rich, 
they  are  prone  to  become  self-indulgent,  effeminate, 
immoral.  The  physical  nature  becomes  less  robust, 
the  intellectual  nature  less  vigorous,  the  moral  less 
pure.  The  pampered  civilizations  of  old  had  to  be  re- 
invigorated,  from  time  to  time,  with  fresh  infusions  of 
barbaric  blood — a  remedy  no  longer  available.  If  we 
cannot  find  in  Christianity  a  remedy  or  preventive,  our 
Christian  civilization  and  the  world  itself  is  a  failure  ; 
and  our  rapidly  increasing  wealth,  like  the  "  cankered 
heaps  of  strange-achieved  gold,"  will  curse  us  unto  de- 
struction. 

But  the  recognition  of  God's  ownership  in  all  our 
substance  is  a  perfect  antidote  for  the  debilitating  and 
corrupting  influence  of  wealth.  It  prevents  self-in- 
dulgence, and  the  apprehension  of  religious  truth  im- 
plied in  such  recognition  affords  the  strongest  possible 
motives  to  sacrifice  and  active  effort  of  which  men  are 


MONEY  AND    THE   KINGDOM.  215 

capable.  A  hundred  years  ago  poverty  compelled  men 
to  endure  hardness,  and  so  served  to  make  the  nation 
great.  Now  that  we  are  exposed  to  the  pampering  in- 
fluence of  riches,  Christian  principle  must  inspire  the 
spirit  of  self-denial  for  Christ's  sake,  and  the  world's 
sake,  and  so  make  the  nation  greater. 

Where  that  spirit  obtains,  Mammonism  and  materi- 
alism, as  well  as  luxuriousness,  lose  their  power,  and 
wealth,  instead  of  being  centralized,  is  distributed.  So 
that  Christian  stewardship,  so  far  as  it  is  accepted, 
affords  perfect  protection  against  all  the  perils  of 
wealth. 

Our  cities,  which  are  gathering  together  the  most  dan- 
gerous elements  of  our  civilization,  will,  in  due  tin\e, 
unless  Christianized,  prove  the  destruction  of  our  free 
institutions.  During  the  last  hundred  years,  the  in- 
struments of  destruction  have  been  wonderfully  multi- 
plied. Offensive  weapons  have  become  immeasurably 
more  effective.  Not  so  the  means  of  defense.  Yout 
life  is  in  the  hand  of  every  man  you  meet.  Society  is 
safe  to-day  only  so  far  as  every  man  becomes  a  law  un- 
to himself.  The  lawless  classes  are  growing  much 
more  rapidly  than  the  whole  population  ;  and  nothing 
but  the  gospel  can  transform  lawless  men  and  women 
into  good  citizens. 

The  number  of  missionaries  in  our  cities  ought  to  be 
increased  ten  or  twenty-fold;  and  their  work  is  ex- 
pensive. It  is  usually  the  densest  populations  which 
are  most  neglected,  and  in  such  quarters  mission  chap- 
els cannot  be  built  without  large  expenditures.  If  our 
cities  are  to  be  evangelized,  laymen  must  greatly  en- 
large their  ideas  of  the  demands  of  the  work,  and  of 
their  pecuniary  responsibility  for  it. 

The  perils  which  have  been  discussed  (Chaps.  IV. — X.) 


216  MONEY   AND   THE   KINGDOM. 

are  increasing.  And  not  only  has  their  rate  of  in- 
crease since  1800  been  greater  than  that  of  the  whole 
population,  but  greater  even  than  that  of  our  evangel- 
ical church-membership,  as  may  be  seen  by  the  accom- 
panying diagram.*  As  some  of  our  statistics  extend 
no  further  back  than  1850,  let  us  compare  the  rates  of 
increase  since  that  date.  While  the  whole  population 
has  increased  a  little  over  two-fold,  and  the  evangelical 
less  than  three-fold,  the  Catholic  population  has  in- 
creased nearly  four-fold,  as  has  the  city  population 
also.  Wealth  has  increased  six-fold,  the  use  of  malt 
liquorsf  more  than  eleven-fold,  and  the  Mormon  popu- 
lation in  Utah  fourteen-fold.  Immigration,  though 
very  irregular,  shows  a  general  increase  more  rapid 
than  that  of  population.  Immorality  and  crime  also 
are  increasing  much  more  rapidly  than  church-member- 
ship. That  is,  the  dangerous  and  destructive  elements 
are  making  decidedly  greater  progress  than  the  con- 
servative. Our  churches  are  growing,  our  missionary 
operations  extending,  our  benefactions  swelling,  and 
we  congratulate  ourselves  upon  our  progress ;  but  we 
have  only  to  continue  making  the  same  kind  of  prog- 
ress long  enough,  and  our  destruction  is  sure. 

*  This  diagram  exhibits  rate  of  increase,  not  relative  numbers.  The 
straight  perpendicular  lines,  numbered  at  the  top  and  bottom  of  the  page, 
represent  fold.  Thus,  from  1800  to  1850,  the  evangelical  population  in- 
creased ten-fold,  and  the  Catholic  population  increased  sixteen-f  old.  From 
1800  to  1880,  the  former  increased  twenty-seven-fold  and  the  latter  sixty- 
three-f old,  while  the  whole  population  increased  somewhat  over  nine-fold. 
Dr.  Dorchester's  diagram  No.  II,  "  Problem  of  Religious  Progress,"  p.  456, 
is  very  incorrect  and  utterly  misleading.  By  his  diagram  the  Catholic  pop- 
ulation increased,  from  1800  to  1850,  barely  three-fold;  by  his  statistics,  six- 
teen-fold  ;  from  1800  to  1880,  by  his  diagram,  six  or  eight-fold ;  by  his  statis- 
tics, sixty-three.  His  mistake  lay  in  attempting  to  represent,  by  the  same 
diagram,  two  entirely  different  things ;  viz.,  rate  of  increase  and  relative 
numbers. 

t  Malt  and  vinous  liquors  are,  in  some  measure,  supplanting  spirituous. 
Taking  all  kinds  of  intoxicating  drinks  together,  the  people  of  the  United 
States  used  three  times  as  much  per  caput  in  1883  as  in  1840. 


1800 


MZ34&78  16 


It  4&  56  64, 


MONEY  AND   THE  KINGDOM.  217 

Has  not  the  time  fully  come  when  the  church  must 
make  a  new  departure  of  some  sort?  And  is  it  not  evi- 
dent that  what  is  needed  is  a  true  view  of  the  relations 
of  money  to  the  kingdom,  and  such  a  spirit  of  conse- 
cration as  will  lay  it  and  all  else  on  the  altar  ? 

4.  We  have  seen,  in  the  preceding  chapters,  that  a 
mighty  emergency  is  upon  us.  Our  country's  future, 
and  much  of  the  world's  future,  depend  on  the  way  in 
which  Christian  men  meet  the  crisis.  Do  you  gay:  "I 
trust  in  God,  and  therefore  have  no  fear ;  I  believe 
what  some  one  has  said,  '  If  God  intends  to  save  the 
world,  he  cannot  afford  to  make  an  exception  of 
America.'  This  country  is  his  chosen  instrument  of 
blessing  to  mankind;  and  God's  plans  never  fail"? 
The  difference  between  a  true  and  a  false  faith  is  that 
one  inspires  action  while  the  other  paralyzes  it. 
God  saved  the  nation  during  the  war  of  the  Eebellion ; 
but  it  was  not  by  a  false  faith,  which,  with  folded  arms, 
rehearsed  its  confidence  in  the  divine  decrees.  It  was 
by  a  faith  which  inspired  sacrifice.  At  the  time  of 
Paul's  shipwreck,  it  was  revealed  to  him  that  they 
were  all  to  be  saved;  but,  nevertheless,  there  were 
conditions  with  which  they  must  comply,  or  be  lost. 
Their  salvation  was  certain,  but  not  necessary;  it  was 
conditioned.  I  believe  our  country  will  be  saved. 
Its  salvation  may  be  certain  in  the  counsels  of  God ; 
but  it  is  not  necessary.  I  believe  it  to  be  conditioned 
on  the  Church's  rising  to  a  higher  spirit  of  sacrifice. 

When  the  drum  beat  the  nation  to  battle,  a  quarte 
of  a  century  ago,  no  sacrifice  was  too  great;  wive** 
gave  their  husbands,  parents  gave  their  sons.  A 
Christian  mother  had  sent  seven  sons  into  the  Union 
army.  Near  the  close  of  the  war,  the  eighth,  and  only 
remaining  son,  paid  a  visit  to  his  mother,  and,  speak- 


218  MONET   AND    THE    KINGDOM. 

ing  of  the  wax,  said :  "  Mother,  what  would  you  do  if 
one  of  the  boys  should  fall  in  the  struggle?"  Turning 
her  deep  eyes  upon  him,  she  said :  "  God  has  given  me 
nine  noble  sons ;  one  he  has  taken  to  himself,  seven 
are  in  the  army,  and  I  want  you  to  understand,  my 
son,  that  I  only  hold  you  as  a  reserve  for  your  coun- 
try's defense  ;  and  the  first  breach  that  you  hear  of  as 
being  made  in  our  number,  go  quickly,  and  fill  it ;  and 
may  God  take  care  of  you,  and  I  will  take  care  of  your 
children."  Is  it  easier  to  give  one's  flesh  and  blood 
than  to  give  silver  and  gold?  We  are  engaged  in 
what  Lord  Bacon  called  the  "  heroic  work  of  making  a 
nation";  for  which  heroic  sacrifices  are  demanded. 

And  our  plea  is  not  America  for  America's  sake ; 
but  America  for  the  world's  sake.  For,  if  this  genera- 
tion is  faithful  to  its  trust,  America  is  to  become  God's 
right  arm  in  his  battle  with  the  world's  ignorance  and 
oppression  and  sin.  If  I  were  a  Christian  African  or 
Arab,  I  should  look  into  the  immediate  future  of  the 
United  States  with  intense  and  thrilling  interest ;  for, 
as  Professor  Hoppin  of  Yale  has  said:  "America 
Christianized  means  the  world  Christianized."  And 
"If  America  fail,"  says  Professor  Park,  "the  worla 
will  fail."  During  this  crisis,  Christian  work  is  un- 
speakably more  important  in  the  United  States  than 
anywhere  else  in  the  world.  "The  nations  whose 
conversion  is  the  most  pressing  necessity  of  the  world 
to-day,"  says  Professor  Phelps,  "are  the  Occidental 
nations.  Those  whose  speedy  conversion  is  most  vital 
to  the  conversion  of  the  rest  are  the  nations  of  the 
Occident.  The  pioneer  stock  of  mind  must  be  the 
Occidental  stock.  The  pioneer  races  must  be  the 
Western  races.  And  of  all  the  Western  races,  who 
that  can  read  skillfully  the  providence  of  God,  or  can 


MONEY   AND    THE   KINGDOM.  219 

read  it  at  all,  can  hesitate  in  affirming  that  the  signs 
of  divine  decree  point  to  this  land  of  ours  as  the  one 
which  is  fast  gathering  to  itself  the  races  which  must 
take  the  lead  in  the  final  conflicts  of  Christianity  for 
possession  of  the  world?  Ours  is  the  elect  nation  for 
the  age  to  come.  We  are  the  chosen  people.  We 
cannot  afford  to  wait.  The  plans  of  God  will  not 
wait.  Those  plans  seem  to  have  brought  us  to  one  of 
the  closing  stages  in  the  world's  career,  in  which  we 
can  no  longer  drift  with  safety  to  our  destiny.  We 
are  shut  up  to  a  perilous  alternative.  Immeasurable 
opportunities  surround  and  overshadow  us.  Such,  a# 
I  read  it,  is  the  central  fact  in  the  philosophy  of 
American  Home  Missions."* 

What  a  consummate  blunder  to  live  selfishly  in  such 
a  generation!  What  food  for  everlasting  reflection 
and  regret  in  a  life  lived  narrowly  amid  such  infinitely 
wide  opportunities! 

Says  a  New  York  daily  paper :  "  A  gentleman  died 
at  his  residence  in  one  of  our  up-town  fashionable 
streets,  leaving  eleven  millions  of  dollars.  He  was  a 
member  of  the  Presbyterian  church,  in  excellent  stand- 
ing, a  good  husband  and  father,  and  a  thrifty  citizen. 
On  his  deathbed  he  suffered  with  great  agony  of 
mind,  and  gave  continual  expression  to  his  remorse 
for  what  his  conscience  told  him  had  been  an  ill-spent 
life.  'Oh!'  he  exclaimed,  'if  I  could  only  live  my 
years  over  again  !  Oh !  if  I  could  only  be  spared  for  a 
few  years,  I  would  give  all  the  wealth  I  have  amassed 
in  a  lifetime.  It  is  a  life  devoted  to  money-getting 
that  I  regret.  It  is  this  which  weighs  me  down,  and 
makes  me  despair  of  the  life  hereafter.' "  Suppose  so 

*  From  letter  read  at  tbe  Home  Missionary  Anniversary  in  Chicago,  June 
9tfl,  1881. 


220  MONEY   AND    THE   KINGDOM. 

unfaithful  a  steward  is  permitted  to  enter  the  many 
mansions.  When,  with  clarified,  spiritual  vision,  he 
perceives  the  true  meaning  of  life,  and  sees  that  he 
has  lost  the  one  opportunity  of  an  endless  existence  to 
set  in  motion  influences,  which,  by  leading  sinners  to 
repentance,  would  cause  heaven  to  thrill  with  a  new 
joy,  it  seems  to  me  he  would  gladly  give  a  hundred 
years  of  Paradise  for  a  single  day  on  earth  in  posses- 
sion of  the  money  once  entrusted  to  him — time  enough 
to  turn  that  power  into  the  channels  of  Christian 
work. 

The  emergency  created  by  the  settlement  of  the 
states  and  territories  of  the  West — a  grand  constella- 
tion of  empires — is  to  be  met  by  placing  in  the  hand 
of  every  Christian  agency  there  at  work  all  the  power 
that  money  can  wield.  There  is  scarcely  a  church,  or 
society,  or  institution  of  any  kind  doing  God  service 
there  which  is  not  embarrassed,  or  sadly  crippled  for 
lack  of  funds.  Missionaries  should  be  multiplied, 
parsonages  and  churches  built,  and  colleges  generously 
endowed.  The  nation's  salt,  with  which  the  whole 
land,  and  pre-eminently  the  tainted  civilization  of  the 
frontier,  must  be  sweetened,  is  Christian  education. 
The  tendency,  which  is  so  marked  in  many  of  our 
older  and  larger  colleges,  to  develop  and  furnish  sim- 
ply the  intellect,  is  full  of  peril.  Divorce  religion  and 
education,  and  we  shall  fall  a  prey  either  to  blunder- 
ing goodness  or  well-schooled  villainy.  The  young 
colleges  of  the  West,  like  Drury,  Doane,  Carleton, 
Colorado,  and  others,  founded  by  broad-minded  and 
far-seeing  men,  are  characterized  by  a  strong  religious 
influence,  and  send  a  surprising  porportion  of  their 
graduates  into  the  ministry.  In  view  of  their  almost 
boundless  possibilities  for  usefulness  in  their  relations 


MONEY   AND    THE   KINGDOM.  221 

to  the  future  of  the  "West  and  of  the  nation,  and  in 
view  of  their  urgent  needs,  it  is  a  wonder  that  those 
who,  like  Boaz,  are  mighty  men  of  wealth,  can  deny 
themselves  the  deep  and  lasting  pleasure  of  liberally 
endowing  such  institutions.  Said  one  who  had  just 
given  fifty  thousand  dollars  to  a  Western  college :  "  I 
cannot  tell  you  what  I  have  enjoyed.  It  is  like  being 
born  into  the  kingdom  again." 

This  emergency  demands  the  acceptance  of  Christian 
stewardship,  that  our  great  benevolent  societies  may 
be  adequately  furnished  for  their  work.  They  are 
kept  constantly  on  their  knees  before  the  public,  and 
with  pleas  so  pitiful,  so  moving,  the  marvel  to  me  is 
that,  when  Christian  men  hold  their  peace  and  their 
purse,  the  very  stones  do  not  cry  out.  And,  notwith- 
standing all  their  efforts  to  secure  means,  they  must, 
every  one,  scrimp  at  every  point,  decline  providential 
calls  to  enlarge  their  work,  and  even  retrench,  in  order 
to  close  the  fiscal  year  without  a  debt. 

The  door  of  opportunity  is  open  in  all  the  earth ; 
organizations  have  been  completed,  languages  learned, 
the  Scriptures  translated,  and  now  the  triumph  of  the 
Kingdom  awaits  only  the  exercise  of  the  power  com- 
mitted to  the  church,  but  which  she  refuses  to  put 
forth.  If  she  is  to  keep  step  with  the  majestic  march 
of  the  divine  Providence,  the  church  must  consecrate 
fche  power  which  is  in  money. 

5.  Oh!  that  men  would  accept  the  testimony  of 
Christ  touching  the  blessedness  of  giving !  He  who 
sacrifices  most,  loves  most ;  and  he  who  loves  most,  is 
most  blessed.  Love  and  sacrifice  are  related  to  each 
other  like  seed  and  fruit;  each  produces  the  other. 
The  seed  of  sacrifice  brings  forth  the  fragrant  fruit  of 
love,  and  love  always  has  in  its  heart  the  seeds  of  new 


222  MONEY   AND    THE   KINGDOM. 

sacrifice.  He  who  gives  but  a  part  is  not  made  perfect 
in  love.  Love  rejoices  to  give  all ;  it  does  not  measure 
its  sacrifice.  It  was  Judas,  not  Mary,  who  calculated 
the  value  of  the  alabaster  box  of  ointment.  He  who 
is  infinitely  blessed  is  the  Infinite  Giver;  and  man, 
made  in  his  likeness,  was  intended  to  find  his  highest 
blessedness  in  the  completest  self-giving.  He  who 
receives,  but  does  not  give,  is  like  the  Dead  Sea.  All 
the  fresh  floods  of  Jordan  cannot  sweeten  its  dead, 
salt  depths.  So  all  the  streams  of  God's  bounty  can- 
not sweeten  a  heart  that  has  no  outlet ;  is  ever  receiv- 
ing, yet  never  full  and  overflowing. 

If  those  whose  horizon  is  as  narrow  as  the  bushel 
under  which  they  hide  their  light  could  be  induced  to 
come  out  into  a  large  place,  and  take  a  worthy  view  of 
the  Kingdom  of  Christ  and  of  their  relations  to  it,  if 
they  could  be  persuaded  to  make  the  principle  of 
Christian  giving  regnant  in  all  their  life,  their  happi- 
ness would  be  as  much  increased  as  their  usefulness. 


INDEX. 


PAQB. 

ADAMS,  John 166 

ADAMS,  Professor  H.  C 104 

AGASSIZ 120 

AGRICULTURAL  resources  of  the  United  States 9-10 

Product  for  1880, 12,  note. 

ALASKA,  timber  lands  of 24 

ALEXANDER  III 34 

ALCOHOL,  increase  in  use  of 74 

AMERICANS,  physical  degeneracy  of. 169-170 

ANGLO-SAXONS  and  the  world's  future 159-180 

Two  great  ideas  represented  by 159-160 

Multiplication  and  expansion  of,  in  modern  times 161-163 

Future  growth  of 162-165 

Becoming  more  effective  in  the  United  States  than  in  Great 

Britain 171-175 

Characteristics  of. 172-174 

ARABLE  lands  of  the  West 21-23 

Of  the  East 28-2^. 

AREA  of  C  hina 9 

Of  the  United  States 9 

ARIZONA,  lands  of 19-20 

ARKANSAS,  timber  lands  of , 23 

ARMIES,  cost  of  standing 114 

ARNOLD,  Matthew  15-36 

ARTESIAN  Wells 22 

ATKINSON,  Edward 10 

AUSTRIA 34 

BACON,  Lord 218 

"  BAD  LANDS  " 18 

BAILEY,  Professor 27 

BARROWS,  Dr.  W.  M 61 

BAXTER,  Dr 170 

BEARD,  Dr.  Geo.  M 71-72-73-168 

BEAUTIFUL,  how  far  may  we  gratify  our  love  for  the? 187-189 

BEECHER,  Henry  Ward 46 

BELLARMINE,  Cardinal • 53 

BISMARCK 33-51 

BLANC,  Louis 85 

BLANCHARD,  Rev.  A 29 


224  INDEX. 

PAGE. 

BORUTTAU 94 

BOSCAWEN. 147 

BOWKER,  R  R 190 

BREWERS'  Congress 79-80 

BRIGHT,  John lf>9 

BRITISH  Colonies,  increase  of  population  in 163-164 

BURKE,  Edmund 153 

BURNABY 167 

BUSHNELL,  Dr. 175-176-182 

BUTLER,  Bishop 198 

BUXTON 2 

CAIRNES,  Professor. 103-212 

CALIFORNIA,  extent  of,  16 ;  gold,  24 ;  iron 26 

CAPITAL,  consecration  of 197-199 

CARLYLE 153 

CATTLE  "  Kings  " 110 

CHINA,  area  and  population  of    9 

CHURCH  Members,  proportion  of  in  states  and  territories 152 

Wealth  of. 201-202 

CITY,  the  peril  of  the 128-138 

Growth  of. 128-129 

Proportion  of  foreigners  in 129 

Liquor  power  in 129 

Wealth  and  poverty  in 129-132 

Socialism  in 132 

Number  of  churches  to  population  in. 133 

Religious  destitution  of 133-135 

Government  of. 135-136 

CLARK,  Dr.  N.  G 178 

COAL 11-26 

COLFAX,  Hon.  Schuyler 65 

COLORADO,  gold  and  silver  products  of. 24 

COMMERCE,  domestic 113-114 

COMMERCE  follows  the  missionary 14 

COMSTOCK,  Anthony 84 

COOK,  Joseph 67-92-95-204 

COPPER 26 

COTTON-GIN 2 

COTTON,  C.  B.,  confessions  of 81-83 

COTTON  Exchange  of  New  York Ill 

CRIME 41-42-44 

CRIMINALS,  increase  of 141 

CROSBY,  Dr.  Howard 84-124 

DAKOTA,  17 ;  "  Bad  Lands  *'  of 18 

D'ALEMBERT 83 

D'ARANDA 166 

DARWIN,  Professor 170-171-176 

DEBTS,  public,  of  Europe 37 

DENSITY  of  population  in  European  States  and  United  States 161 


INDEX.  225 

PAGE- 

DESETRT..... 1T-21 

DE  TOCQUEVILLE 29-36-99-101-138 

DIAGRAM,  showing  wealth  of  church  members  and  gifts  to  missions 202 

Showing  increase  of  perils.— 2i6 

DICKENS 173 

DIVORCE 141 

DORCHESTER,  Dr.  D 168 

DIKE,  S.  W 141 

EAST  of  the  Mississippi,  area IT 

Arable  lands 23-24 

ELY,  Professor  R.  T 87-88-90-210 

EMERSON 96-122-124-172 

EMPIRE,  westward  movement  of . , 166-167 

FAIRBAIRN,  William 3 

FAWCETT,  Professor 35 

FOOD,  per  caput,  in  United  States  and  Europe 31 

FOREIGN-BORN  population  in  United  States  in  1880,  39 ;  in  1900 -     40 

FOREIGN-BORN  population,  tendency  toward  aggregation  of . ....  r 44-45 

FOREIGN  population,  proportion  of,  in  western  states  and  territories. . .    161 

FRANCE 32-33 

FRANKLIN,  Benjamin 60-166 

FREMONT,  J.  C 19 

FRONTIER  population,  heterogeneous  character  of 149-150 

FROUDE 178 

FULTON'S  steamboat , 3 

GALI  ANI 166 

GEORGE,  Henry 91-92-133-135 

GERMANY 33 

GIFFEN,  Robert 156 

GILMOUR,  Bishop 52 

GIVING,  Christian ;  the  principle  stated 184-185 

The  principle  applied 185-199 

The  principle  is  not  accepted  by  the  church 199-206 

Acceptance  of  the  principle  urged 206-222 

GLADSTONE 8-13-36-51-98-115 

GOLD  and  silver  product  of  the  United  States 11-24-25 

GOODWIN,  Dr.  E.  P 109-110 

GOTTSCH ALK . : 127 

GRAZING  lands  of  the  West 21 

"  GREAT  American  Desert," 17-21 

GREAT  Britain,  land  holders  in 31 

Popular  discontent  in 35 

Local  indebtedness  of 35 

Increase  of  population  in 163 

GREAT  Columbia  Plains 21 

GREGORY  XVI 65 

GRIMM,  Jacob 179 

GUIZOT 93 

HATTON,  Joseph 6 

HEATHEN,  the  giving  of  converted , 203-204 


226  INDEX. 

PAG*. 

HECKER,  Father 64 

HERBERT,  George 195 

HERODOTUS 122 

HIGGINSON,  Francis 173 

HOLMES,  Oliver  Wendell ,    144 

HOPPIN,  Prof 218 

HUGHES,  Thomas 35-212 

HUGO,  Victor 36 

HUXLEY,  Prof 169 

IDAHO,  extent  of,  16 ;  gold  and  silver,  24 ;  sulphur 27 

ILLITERACY '. 140 

ILLITERACY  in  United  States 44 

IMMIGRATION,  30-46 ;  causes  of 30-39 

Influence  of  on  morals,  40-43 ;  political  aspects  of 43 

INTELLIGENCE,  higher,  demanded  for  large  populations 139 

INTEMPERANCE,  68-85,  of  West  compared  with  East 77 

INTOXICANTS,  increase  in  use  of 74 

IRON  ORE 11-26 

ITALY 34 

JESUITS 50-58 

KANNIN,  Daimiyo-j  in-san 191-192 

KANSAS,  alkaline  lands  of 18 

KIMBALL,  Heber  C 67 

"KINGS,"  Cattle 110 

LAFAYETTE 59 

LANDS,  exhaustion  of  public 153-158 

Location  of  public 154-155 

LEAD 26 

LECKY ,. ; 100 

LIBERTY,  progress  of 4 

LIFE,  increasing  valuation  of  human 5 

LIQUOR  BILL  of  the  nation 202 

LIQUOR  Power,  the,  78-85 ;  wealth  of 79 

Methods  of .81-83 

LIQUOR  traffic,  carried  on  by  foreigners 42-43 

LlVY 121 

LONDON,  Bitter  Cry  of  Outcast 130-132 

LOUISIANA,  sulphur  of 27 

LOURDELOT 12 

LOWELL,  Mrs.  J.  S 133 

LUNT,  Bishop 62 

LUXURIOUSNESS,  one  of  the  perils  of  wealth 121-123 

MACAULAY 101-154 

MACHINERY,  labor-saving,  to  increase 38 

Influence  of 95-96 

Power  of,  in  Great  Britain 115 

Superior  in  the  United  States 12 

MAMMONISM,  115-119 ;  corrupts  morals,  118 ;  blocks  reforms,  118 ;  cor- 
rupts the  ballot-box 118-119 

MANNING,  Cardinal 53-54 


INDEX.  227 

PAGE. 
MANUFACTURERS  in  United  States » . » » » , » . 12-15 

Progress  of 6-13 

MATERIALISM,  one  of  the  perils  of  wealth 119-123 

MAURICE,  Eev.  J.  F.  D 86 

MCCLOSKEY,  Cardinal .!  52 

MECHANICAL  invention,  influence  of,  on  luxuriousness 122 

METROPOLITAN  Opera  House  in  New  York,  subscriptions  for 202 

MILITARY  duty  in  Europe 36-37 

MILTON 152 

MINERAL  products  of  United  States  from  1870—1 880, 11 ;  of  the  West. . .  26 

MINNESOTA,  timber  lands  of 23 

MISSIONARY,  commerce  follows  the 14 

MISSIONS,  amount  given  to 199 

MISSISSIPPI  and  affluents,  navigation  of 9 

MISSOURI,  iron,  26 ;  lead 26 

MONEY,  the  power  of 181 

And  the  kingdom 180-222 

MONTANA,  extent,  16 ;  gold  and  silver,  24 ;  tin 27- 

MONTESQUIEU. 28 

MORALS,  popular 140-141 

MORMONISM,  59-68 ;  polygamy  not  an  essential  part  of,  59-60 ;  strength 

of,  61 ;  dangers  of,  66 ;  remedy  for 67-68 

MORMONS,  designs  of,  62-63 ;  possessions  of,  C4 ;  increase  of,  by  immi- 
gration, 64 ;  apostacy  of 64 

MOST,  Herr 91 

MUDGE,  Prof 18 

NAPOLEON.  . '. 180 

NEBRASKA,  lands  of , 18 

NERVOUS  belt,  the , 71-72 

NEVADA,  lands  of,  20 ;  gold  and  silver,  24-25 ;  borax 27 

NEW  ENGLAND,  unimproved  lands  in 23 

NswGlarus 44 

NEW  MEXICO 16 

NEW  YORK,  unimproved  lands  in 23 

NIHILISTS 34-35 

NORTHAMPTON,  Mass 147-148 

O'CONNOR,  Bishop 47 

OPIUM,  increased  consumption  of 73 

OREGON,  iron  ore  of 26 

PARK,  Professor 218 

PATENTS  issued  by  English  Government,  4 ;  by  United  States 12 

PENNSYLVANIA,  unimproved  lands  in 23 

PERIL,  the  supreme 143-144 

PERILS,  increase  of 216-217 

PETROLEUM  Exchange  of  New  York 117 

PETTENKOFER,  Dr.  Max  von 76 

PHELPS,  Prof 1-218 

"  PHYSICAL  Degeneracy  of  Americans  " 169-170 

Pius  IX,  creed  of r* 

Pius  IX ,.,.., ,,, ,,,,,, ffffflftt,  47-48-49-^' 


PAGE. 

POLYGAMY  not  an  essential  part  of  Mormonism 59-60 

POPULATION,  density  of,  in  European  states  and  United  States 16T 

POSSESSIONS,  God's  ownership  in  our 184-185 

POWER,  distribution  of;  the  fundamental  idea  of  popular  government.    141 

Loom 2 

PRODUCE  Exchange  of  New  York 117 

PuBLiciands,  exhaustion  of. 153-158 

Location  of 154-155 

RAE,  John 31 

RACES,  competition  of 175-179 

RAILWAYS,  construction  of,  from  1870  to  1880 38 

Of  Qreat  Britain,  passengers  conveyed  by 3 

RAINFALL 22 

RAWLINSON 171 

RESOURCES,  national 7-15 

ROMAN  Church  in  the  United  States,  wealth  of 54 

ROMANISM,  46-59 ;  fundamental  principles  of. 47-54 

ROMANISM,  attitude  of,  toward  our  free  institutions 54-55 

Growth  of  in  the  United  States 55-57 

In  the  West 57-59 

Responsible  for  skepticism 55 

RUSSIA 34 

RUTHERFORD 207 

SACRIFICE,  the  law  of. 192-195 

SEELYE,  Pres.  J.  H 90-111 

SETTLERS,  influence  of  early 144-153 

SEWARD,  William  H : 24 

SCHAUFFLER,  Rev.  H.  A 134 

SCHOOL  population 140 

SILVER  and  gold  product  of  the  United  States 11-24-25 

SLAVERY. 4 

SMALLEY,  E.  V 18-20 

SMITH,  Adam 105-167 

SOCIALISM,  85-112 ;  Socialistic  Labor  Party 86-87 

SOCIALISM,  International  Workingmen's  Association 87-88 

Chicago  socialists,  89 ;  increase  of,  92-107 ;  influenced  by  immi- 
gration, 92 ;  by  individualism,  93 ;  by  skepticism,  93-94;  by  devel- 
opment of  classes,  94-100;  by  discontent,  100-107;  conditions  of 
the  West  peculiarly  favorable  to  the  growth  of 109-111 

SOUTHE  Y 178 

SPENCER,  Herbert 12-85-136-172 

SPINNING  mule 2 

"  STAKED  Plain  "  of  Texas 18 

SUMNER,  Charles 121-167 

TAXATION  in  Europe  and  United  States 37 

TAYLOR,  Jeremy 208 

TELEGRAPH  lines  of  the  world. 4 

TENNYSON 168-171-179 

TEXAS,  16 ;  capable  of  supporting  present  population  of  United  States, .     17 


INDEX.  229 

PAGE. 
TEXAS,  "  Staked  Plain  "  of,  18-19;  timber  lands  of,  23 ;  iron,  26;  gypsum, 

27 ;  division  of,  into  several  states 28 

THOMPSON,  Dr.  J.  P.. 62 

THOMPSON,  Hon.  R.  W 52 

TIMBER 21-23-24 

TIN 27 

TITHES,  misconception  of  the  doctrine  of 183-184 

TITHING 195-19T 

TRAMPS,  taking  possession  of  a  town Ill 

UNITED  STATES,  area  of,  9 ;  agricultural  resources  of,  9-10 ;  increase  of 

population  in,  164 ;  the  seat  of  Anglo-Saxon  power 165-168 

UTAH,  lands  of,  19 ;  iron 26 

VANDERBILT,  wealth  of 124 

VIRTUE,  higher,  demanded  for  large  populations 139 

WALL  Street  Kings 103 

WARREN,  Rev.  Dr.  J.  H 58 

WEALTH,  perils  of,  112-128 ;  per  caput  in  several  states,  28 ;  produced 

from  1850  to  1870, 115 ;  meaning  of,  in  the  United  States,  116 ; 

aristocracy  of,  in  the  United  States,  116 ;  congestion  of 123-125 

WEST,  London  Times  on  the  rapid  development  of,  7 ;  live  stock  in,  24 ; 

mineral  wealth  of,  24 ;  foreign-born  population  in 45 

WESTERN  Reserve,  two  towns  on  the 145-146 

WHIPPLE 120-16S 

WHITTIER 149 

WIYES,  English  sale  of 5 

WOMANHOOD,  increasing  honor  to 5 

WOOLSEY,  President 141 

WRIGHT,  Carroll  D 212 

WYOMING,  iron,  26;  sulphate  of  soda. 27 

YOUNG,  Brigham 61 


American  Home  Missionary  Society, 

BIBLE  HOUSE,  N.  Y. 


REV.  DAVID  B.  COE,  Honorary  Secretary. 

REV.  WALTER  M.  BARROWS,  REV.  JOSEPH  B.  CLARK,  Secretaries. 

REV.  ALEX'R  H.  CLAPP,  Treasurer. 


SIXTY  years  ago  tne  American  Home  Missionary  Society  was 
organized  to  assist  congregations  that  are  unable  to  support  the 
Gospel  ministry,  and  TO  SEND  THE  GOSPEL  AND  THE  MEANS 
or  CHKISTIAN  EDUCATION  TO  THE  DESTITUTE  WITHIN  THE  UNITED 
STATES. 

It  began  its  work  near  the  commencement  of  that  great 
"  world-movement"  described  in  this  volume.  In  1826,  when 
Western  New  York  was  a  frontier  region,  two -thirds  of  its  mis- 
sionaries were  found  in  this  State. 

Now  they  are  laboring  in  nearly  every  State  and  Territory  of 
the  Union.  Over  1,000  are  in  States  south  and  west  of  New 
York.  WHo  can  estimate  the  influence  they  are  exerting  in 
building  up  the  new  communities  on  Christian  foundations  ? 

Some  idea  of  the  magnitude  and  scope  of  the  Society's  work 
may  be  gained  from  the  following  facts. 

In  sixty -one  years  its  missionaries  have  organized  4,951 
churches  and  brought  2,430  to  self-support.  They  have  gathered 
into  these  churches  345, 973  members.  Cash  receipts,  $11,586,- 
692,20, 

During  the  sixty -first  year  1,571  missionaries  ministered  to 
3,063  congregations  and  129,350  Sunday-school  scholars  ;  organ- 
izing 135  new  churches  and  323  new  Sunday-schools  ;  and  re- 
ceiving into  the  churches  10,031  members.  Cash  receipts, 
$482,979,60. 

Never  before  were  the  calls  for  Home  Missionary  work  so 
loud.  Never  were  the  doors  so  wide  open  in  all  parts  of  the 
land.  Never  were  our  institutions  in  greater  peril.  Head  in 
this  book  of  these  perils  and  their  remedy.  Then  let  every 
patriot  and  Christian  ask  if  he  is  not  responsible  for  applying 
this  remedy.  The  average  cost  to  this  Society  for  each  of  its 
missionaries  is  $471  per  year. 

Are  there  not  many  who  will  each  contribute  enough  to  sup- 
port at  least  one  such  Christian  worker  ? 

SAVE  AME3ICA  TO  SAVE  THE  WORLD ! 


WHAT  INTELLIGENT  READERS  OF  "OUR  COUNTRY" 
SAY  OF  IT. 


"ITS  facts,  as  they  are  piled  up  page  after  page,  arrest  the 
attention  of  all  classes  of  readers  who  have  an  interest  in  the 
welfare  of  their  country,  and  the  successive  chapters  furnish  a 
cumulative  argument  of  great  power  for  home  mission  work. 
Many  pastors  have  sent  for  copies  for  use  among  their  people. 
Judge  Warren  Currier  of  Missouri  contributes  $25  to  help  in 
its  circulation,  and  the  home  missionary  secretaries  and  many 
others  pronounce  it  a  wonderful  book.  It  can  be  had  of  the 
American  Home  Missionary- Society  at  the  low  price  of  twenty- 
five  cents  in  paper,  and  fifty  cents  in  cloth  covers,  postage  in- 
cluded. It  should  by  all  means  be  scattered  far  and  wide  over 
the  country." — The  Congregationalist. 

"  IN  'Oun  COUNTRY/  published  by  the  American  Home  Mis- 
sionary Society,  Rev.  Josiah  Strong  has  given  us  a  book  whose 
value  lies  in  its  facts  and  in  the  rare  ability  with  which  the 
author  has  gathered  and  verified  them.  In  successive  chapters 
he  has  sketched  the  spirit  of  the  times,  the  National  resources 
and  Western  supremacy.  He  has  depicted  the  perils  from  im- 
migration, from  Romanism,  Mormonism,  intemperance,  social- 
ism and  wealth;  the  dangers  from  urban  population  and  the 
exhaustion  of  the  public  lands.  His  final  chapter  on  '  Money 
and  the  Kingdom '  reveals  the  purpose  of  the  book,  which  is  to 
point  Christians  of  this  country  to  the  present  time  as  a  critical 
period  in  Christ's  Kingdom,  and  to  urge  upon  them  the  conse- 
cration of  their  wealth  to  the  cause  of  the  Redeemer.  The 
book  ought  to  be  in  the  hands  of  every  patriot  in  the  land  as  a 
thesaurus  of  important  material  facts  and  as  an  incentive  to 
stand  on  higher  grounds  of  civic  and  religious  duty." — The 
Advance. 


"THE  purpose  of  this  volume,  well  accomplished,  is  to 
furnish  facts  and  arguments  showing  the  imperative  need  of 


the  evangelteation  of  our  land.  The  statistics  are  collated  with 
decided  skill,  and  the  arguments  are  masterly.  It  is  a  valu- 
able hand-book  on  the  great  practical  problems  now  facing  the 
Church  at  every  turn.  Romanism,  Mormonism  and  intemper- 
ance are  handled  without  gloves.  The  entire  book,  indeed, 
hews  to  the  line.  It  bravely  diagnoses  the  diseases  of  society, 
Church  and  State,  and  suggests  treatment.  The  despotism 
and  danger  of  excessive  wealth,  especially  in  monopoly,  is  for- 
cibly depicted.  At  the  same  time  the  trouble  with  the  work- 
ing classes  is  fearlessly  delineated.  The  closing  chapter,  on 
'Money  and  the  Kingdom, 'is  a  powerful  argument  for  the 
cause  of  benevolence.  This  work  is  worthy  of  a  wide  circula- 
tion, and  will  be  sure  to  accomplish  good." — Herald  and  Pres- 


"Ms.  STRONG  was  the  successor  of  Rev.  J.  D.  Davis,  of 
^apan,  at  Cheyenne,  and  recently  Home  Missionary  Secretary 
of  Ohio.  He  is  practically  and  thoroughly  familiar  with  the 
home  missionary  problem  in  all  its  phases,  and  during  the  past 
few  years  has  been  giving  exhaustive  study  to  the  elucidation 
of  questions  which  involve  our  national  existence  and  well 
being. 

"An  introduction  by  Dr.  Phelps,  of  Andover,  sounds  a  clarion 
note  which  the  succeeding  chapters  swell  into  reverberating 
tones  that  both  oppress  and  inspire  with  a  sense  of  far-reach- 
ing destiny  as  springing  from  what  we  of  to  day  do  or  fail  to 
do. 

'  *  These  chapters  present  an  array  of  facts  which  bear  the 
reader  on  with  a  trend  well  nigh  as  irresistible  as  are  the  warn- 
ings, the  expostulations,  the  pleadings,  and  the  inspiring  pre- 
dictions of  the  Hebrew  prophets. 

"  The  closing  chapter  speaks  with  the  voice  of  aDanielcome 
to  judgment.  If  professing  Christians  will  recognize  the  pic- 
ture and  move  out  on  the  lines  indicated,  the  beginning  of  the 
end  will  be  reached.  We  will  not  further  particularize.  Read 


3 


the  book  for  yourself.  Especially  should  every  pastor  season 
his  miad  and  tone  up  his  convictions  by  its  careful  study. "—. 
Neb.  Congregational  News. 

"MR.  STRONG'S  admirable  book,  OUR  COUNTRY,  is  by  all 
odds  the  best  home  missionary  document  that  has  fallen  under 
my  observation .  It  is  full  of  solid  facts  and  sound  sense,  and  is 
free  from  cant.  Here  are  twenty-five  dollars  to  aid  in  its  cir- 
culation. It  ought  to  be  in  every  Sunday-school  and  pastor's 
library  throughout  Pilgrimdom.  I  am  ready  to  be  one  of  fifty 
to  pay  $100  each,  ($5,000)  if  that  is  the  best  way  to  get  the 
book  diffused  throughout  the  land. " — Hon.  Warren  Currier,  of 


"I  AM  glad  to  hear  of  the  rapid  circulation  of  the  book.  It 
cannot  help  doing  good  to  anybody  who  has  brains  and  heart 
enough  to  take  it  in.  I  have  seldom  read  a  thing  that  moved 
me  more  deeply.  We  are  living  in  a  torrent  of  great  history.*' 
—Prof.  Austin  Phelps,  D.D. 

' '  IT  is  a  wonderful  book.  It  ought  to  be  read  by  all  the 
people.  It  is  a  great  educator.  I  hope  our  wealthy  men  will 
read  it,  and  see  that  they  cannot  put  their  money  to  better  use 
than  in  the  home  missionary  work.  It  surpasses  any  novel  in 
interest  to  any  one  who  cares  for  his  country  as  a  patriot,  and 
for  the  world  as  a  Christian." — Rev.  Stewart  Sheldon,  of  Dakota. 

"  OUR  COUNTRY  is  truly  a  wonderful  book.  It  is  by  far 
the  most  notable  contribution  ever  yet  made  to  home  mission- 
ary literature."— Rev.  John  H.  Barrows,  D.D.,  1st  Presb.  Ch., 
Chicago,  III. 

"  It  is  a  splendid  book.  It  thrills  me  through  and  through. 
I  wish  I  could  get  all  the  business  men  in  our  churches  to  read 
it."— Ren.  T.  0.  Douglass,  Iowa. 

"OUR  COUNTRY  is  one  of  the  grandest  books  of  this 
Nineteenth  Century.  I  intend,  God  willing,  to  get  it  into 
every  family  in  this  parish." — Rev.  S.  R.  Roseboro,  Rock  Creek>  0 


"  THE  book  makes  a  powerful  appeal,  especially  to  such  as 
have  much  property  laid  up  for  many  years,  and  can  be  moved 
by  considerations  of  self-preservation  for  themselves  and  their 
children.  When  they  have  opened  wide  their  purses  through 
fear,  ihey  will  be  likely  to  keep  them  open  for  love.  Is  there 
no  possibility  of  putting  them  into  all  city  churches?"— A  Gen- 
tleman in  New  Haven,  Conn. 

* '  Too  much  cannot  be  said  in  praise  of  OUR  COUNTRY.  For 
the  money  herewith  please  send  me  four  more  copies  for  dis- 
tribution.''—^ Lady  in  Greenfield,  Mass. 


"  '  OUR  COUNTRY,'  a  book  recently  published  by  the  Amer- 
ican Home  Missionary  Society,  at  New  York,  is  as  full  of 
sermon  matter  as  an  egg  is  of  meat.  Prof.  Phelps  says:  '  Its 
great  strength  lies  in  its  facts.'  These  facts  should  be  brought 
to  the  notice  of  every  church  in  America.  Pastors  may  diffuse 
missionary  intelligence,  but  they  must  first  have  some  informa- 
tion to  diffuse." — Missionary  Record. 

"  IT  is  a  revelation.  It  is  a  thoroughly  admirable  piece  of 
werk  in  detail  quality,  as  well  as  in  general  sweep  and  scope." 
—Gen.  A.  B.  Nettleton,  Minn. 


"  PERMIT  me  to  thank  you  for  your  valuable  and  instructive 
work. — It  contains  precisely  the  information  people  need. "  — 
Prof.  R.  T.  Ely,  of  Johns  Hopkins  University. 

"  IN  a  thoughtful  little  book,  entitled  '  OUR  COUNTRY,'  late- 
ly published  [by  the  American  Home  Missionary  Society] 
the  Rev.  Josiah  Strong  observes  that  'the  tragedy  of  our 
civilization  consists  in  the  fact  that,  while  knowledge  has 
been  multiplied  and  diffused,  wealth  has  been  multiplied  and 
concentrated  in  few  hands.'"— The  Century,  for  June,  1886. 


MODERN    CITIES 

AND    THEIR    RELIGIOUS    PROBLEMS. 

By  Rev.  SAMUEL  LANE  LOOMIS. 

With  an  Introduction  by  Rev.  JOSIAH    STRONG,  D.D, 

1  2mo,    Cloth,    $  1  .OO. 


"  For  all  who  love  their  fellow-men,  this  book  will  be  a  stimulus 
and  a  guide.  It  presents  clearly  and  forcibly  the  increasingly  difficult 
problem  of  the  modern  city,  and  will  prove  to  be  a  storehouse  of  in- 
formation to  all  workers  in  this  field.  Like  *  Our  Country, '  by  Rev. 
Dr.  Strong,  this  book  is  one  of  the  most  marked  books  of  the  current 
year.  Every  worker  in  city  or  country  should  read  and  inwardly 
digest  this  suggestive  volume." — Rev.  A.  F.  SCHAUFFLER,  D.D. 

"  This  volume  is  in  point  and  substance  the  companion  volume  to 
be  read  in  connection  with  '  Our  Country,'  by  the  Rev.  Josiah  Strong, 
D.  D.  The  author's  sociology  is  sound.  The  chapters  on  methods 
of  philanthropic  endeavor,  and  especially  those  which  show  what  has 
been  done,  are  wise  and  helpful.  We  commend  the  book  heartily  to 
our  readers." — The  Independent. 

"  This  is  an  important  little  volume,  and  a  fit  companion  to  place 
side  by  side  with  the  remarkable  work  by  Dr.  Strong,  entitled  *  Our 
Country. '  It  is  a  book  which  will  startle  many  and  convince  all  who 
read  it.  It  ought  to  go  into  every  household  in  the  land." — Christian 
at  Work. 

"The  author  has  reached  more  nearly  to  the  true  cause  of  the 
difficulty,  and  the  proper  manner  to  remove  it,  than  any  other  author 
with  whose  works  we  are  acquainted." — Hartford  Post. 

"A  striking  and  sensible  book — one  of  the  clearest  and  best  things 
ever  written  on  this  live  and  stirring  current  question." — Michigan 
Christian  Advocate. 

"A  timely  book,  well  written,  sensible,  practical.  A  book  that 
deserves  reading." — Springfield  Union. 

"  The  present  volume  is  directly  to  the  point,  wise,  timely,  and 
earnest. " — Christian  Sanctuary. 

tl  TViic  TC   a    irffir  oV»1<a  V»nr»lr    " /?/»//*' vnfi<v0     QV/*» 


neat.    — ^ftrtxitun  ourtciuary. 

"  This  is  a  very  able  book." — Baltimore  Sun. 


Sent,  postpaid,  on  receipt  of  the  price,  by 

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A  Work  of  Profound  Interest  to  the  Christian  World ! 

SOCIALfSM~AND 

CHRISTIANITY 

By  A.  J.  F.  BEHKENDS,  IX  D. 


This  book  treats  from  a  new  point  of  view  the  problems 
raised  by  the  most  frequently  advanced  social  theories  of  the 
day  ;  their  relations  to  the  reciprocal  duties  of  Labor  and 
Capital,  and  the  position  of  the  Christian  Church  with  reference 
to  the  social  and  industrial  movements  that  are  taking  place 
about  it. 

-CONTENTS  :- 

I.  Social  Theories.  II.  Historical  Sketch.  III.  The  Assumptions 
of  Modern  Socialism.  IV.  The  Economic  Fallacies  of  Modern  Socialism. 
V.  The  Rights  of  Labor.  VI.  The  Responsibilities  of  Wealth.  VII.  The 
Personal  and  Social  Causes  of  Pauperism.  VIII.  The  Historical  Causes  of 
Pauperism  and  its  Cure.  IX.  The  Treatment  of  the  Criminal  Classes. 
X.  Modern  Socialism,  Religion  and  the  Family. 

12 mo,,  Paper,  5O  cents;    Cloth,  $I.OO. 

"  It  is  a  book  for  the  times  in  the  interest  of  truth,  and  justice,  and  pure 
religion.  We  have  read  it  from  beginning  to  end,  with  unflagging  interest, 
and  shall  read  it  a  second  time  this  summer,  and  hope  to  lay  some  extracts 
before  our  readers." — N.  Y.  Observer. 

"  It  is  the  first  approach  to  a  popular  systematic  presentation  of  the 
principles  of  the  destructive  socialism  of  the  day.  The  questions  which  it 
discusses  are  now  so  prominent,  and  their  social  bearing  is  so  vital,  that 
ministers  should  deal  with  them.  We  commend  this  volume  to  them, 
especially  to  all  who  desire  to  get  an  intelligent  view  of  one  of  the  burning 
questions  of  the  day." — Presbyterian  Journal. 

"  The  book  should  be  in  every  home,  and  we  are  sure  that  if  the  princi- 
ples which  it  advocates,  and  the  information  which  it  presents  were  given  to 
every  family  in  the  land,  the  present  disturbances  in  our  country  would  soon 
be  at  an  end." — St.  Louis  Central  Baptist. 

"  If  this  spring  gives  America  a  more  timely  or  useful  book,  I  shall  be 
surprised." — Prof.  M.  B.  Riddle,  D.  D.,  Hartford  Theological  Seminary. 

"  We  need  a  volume  that  shall  be  broad  enough  to  take  in  the  whole 
field  ;  one  that  thinks  the  subject  through,  and  is  not  confined  to  one  or 
more  phases  of  it.  This  Dr.  Behrends  gives  us." 

—Illustrated  Christian  Weekly. 

Sent,  postpaid,  on  receipt  of  price,  by 

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A  Great  Book  on  a  Great  Subject. 


THE  CRISIS  OF  MISSIONS; 

Or,  the  Voice  out  of  the  Cloud. 

BY   THE 

REY.   ARTHUR  T.    PIERSON,   D.  D. 

I6mo,      -      $1.25. 


"  One  of  the  most  important  books  to  the  Cause  of  Foreign  Missions— 
and  through  them  to  Home  Missions  also  — which  ever  has  been  written. 
It  should  be  in  every  library  and  every  household.  It  should  be  read, 
studied,  taken  to  heart,  and  prayed  over." — Congregationalist. 

"Surely  if  the  inspiration  and  the  force  of  this  'Crisis  of  Missions' 
were  imbibed  and  felt  by  the  whole  sacramental  host,  there  would  be  a 
mighty  uprising,  a  grand  anointing,  and  a  holy  crusade  to  storm  the 
kingdom  of  darkness  all  along  the  line,  and  speedily  add  the  crown  of 
earth  to  Christ's  many  crowns  !" — Homiletical  Review. 

"  This  is  a  book  for  every  Christian  to  read  with  prayer  and  a  sin- 
cere desire  to  know  his  personal  duty  in  this  great  and  glorious  work." — 
N.  Y.  Observer. 

"We  do  not  hesitate  to  say  that  this  book  is  the  most  purposeful, 
earnest  and  intelligent  review  of  the  mission  work  and  field  which  has  ever 
been  given  to  the  church." — Christian  Statesman. 

"A  closely  compacted  array  of  facts,  arranged  under  distinct  heads 
and  welded  together  by  the  strong  rivets  of  logic,  vivified  and  made  almost 
a  thing  of  life  by  the  evident  presence  throughout  its  pages  of  the  guiding 
power  of  the  Holy  Ghost." — Right  Rev.  Wm.  Bacon  Stevens,  Bishop  of 
Pennsylvania . 


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THE   FAOSIMILE    REPRINTS. 

BTJNYAN'S  PILGRIM'S  PROGRESS.  From  this 
World  to  that  which  is  to  come.  By  JOHN  BUNYAN.  Being  a 
fac-simile  reprint  of  the  first  edition,  published  in  1678. 

16mo.,  pr.per $0  50 

Antique  Binding,  with  Renaissance  Design,  Gilt  Top 1  25 

HERBERT'S  TEMPLE.     Sacred  Poems    and  Private 
Ejaculations.     By  GEORGE  HEBBEBT,  late  Oratour  of  the  Univer- 
sitie  of  Cambridge.     Being  a  fac-simile  of  one  of  the  gift  copies 
printed  for  circulation  by  NICHOLAS  FEKEAB,  before  the  publi 
cation  in  1 633,  of  which  only  one  copy  is  known  to  exist. 

16mo. ,  paper f  0  50 

Antique  Binding,  with  Renaissance  Design,  Gilt  Top  ...  1  25 

WALTON'S  COMPLETE  ANGLER  ;  or  the  Contem- 
plative Man's  Recreation.  Being  &  fac-simile  reprint  of  the  first 
edition,  published  in  1653. 

16mo. ,  paper $0  50 

Antique  Binding,  with  Renaissance  Design,  Gilt  Top. . .    .  1  25 


"They  are  curious  and  valuable  souvenirs  of  the  authors 
and  their  works. " — N.  T.  Observer. 

"  The  fac-simile  reprints  are  charmingly  printed,  and  bound 
in  a  fashion  quaint  and  engaging.  They  are  as  pleasant  little 
gifts  for  a  friend  as  one  could  select." — New  York  Tribune. 

"  The  purchaser  (of  the  Pilgrim's  Progress)  will  see  the 
famous  allegory  in  the  form  in  which  Bunyan  sent  it  forth  to 
the  World."— 17ie  Congregationalist. 

"The  printing  and  binding  are  so  skillfully  done  in  imita- 
tion of  the  antique  as  to  deceive  even  the  elect." — Christian  Union. 

"  Two  little  books  sure  to  be  sought  after  are  the  fac-similes 
of  George  Herbert's  '  Temple,'  after  a  unique  copy  of  the  first 
(undated)  impression  of  1633;  and  of  Walton's  'Complete  Angler,' 
after  the  first  edition  of  1063.  The  quaint  embossed  binding 
in  brown  and  white  patterns  at  once  distinguishes  these  books 
as  antique.  In  both  cases  the  result  is  very  successful." — New 
Y  rk  Evening  Post. 

"All  lovers  of  these  sweet  old  lavender-smelling  times  will 
be  grateful  for  the  possession  of  such  fac-similes." — The  Critic. 

Sent  postpaid  on  receipt  of  price  by  the  publishers. 

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INDEX   RERUM 

BY  JOHN   TODD,   D.D. 
REVISED  AND  IMPROVED  BY  REV.  J.  M.  HUBBARD. 


QUARTO,  HALF  LEATHER,  -        -        $2.50 

The  Index  is  intended  to  supply  to  those  who  are  careful  enough 
readers  to  make  notes  of  what  they  may  wish  to  use  again,  a  book 
especially  adapted  to  that  purpose  by  a  system  of  paging  by  letters, 
each  page  having  a  margin  for  the  insertion  of  the  words  most  express* 
ive  of  the  subject  of  the  note.  It  contains  280  pages  of  quarto  size, 
ruled  and  lettered,  and  in  the  hands  of  an  industrious  reader,  forms, 
in  the  course  of  years,  a  perfect  index  of  his  reading,  as  valuable  *s  he 
may  choose  to  make  it  complete.  It  may  be  fairly  said  to  be  the  most 
useful  and  convenient  book  ever  devised  for  the  purpose  of  making 
permanent  the  results  of  the  Student's,  Writer's,  and  Professional  man's 
reading.  Its  system  and  arrangement  are  such,  that  with  the  minimum 
of  effort  it  secures  a  lasting  record  of  every  reference  mat  mav  oe 
thought  worthy  of  preservation  in  the  course  of  the  widest  reading. 

Says  the  author  :  "  When  you  read  anything  which  you  may  here- 
after need,  place  the  principal  word  in  the  margin  under  the  first  let- 
ter in  the  word,  and  the  first  vowel  in  it.  I  will  here  give  some  ex- 
amples as  they  stand  in  my  own  Index.  Suppose  I  wish  to  note  some- 
thing  relating  to  America.  I  turn  to  A  and  the  vowel  e,  because  A 
is  the  first  letter,  and  e  is  the  first  vowel,  thus  : — 


On  page  A-*.    America 
1      Atheism 
**         /?-<;.    Rousseau, 


i,  page  277. 
W-i.  Wilberforce, 
X-y.  Xylochartion, 


supposed  to  be  known  in  the  time  of  Homer  :  Thomas's 

History  Print,  volume  x,  page  20. 
of  France,  Picture  of:  SchlegePs  Lecture  :  Volume  a, 

page  199. 
morbid  imagination  of:  Stewart  on  the  mind  :  Volume 


,  . 

character  as  a  speaker  ;  Port.  Rhet.  Reader  :  Page  250. 
or  bark  paper,  description  of:  Am.  Quart.  Rev.  v.  a." 


OPINIONS    OF   THE    PRESS. 

I  have  no  hesitation  in  saying  that  the  plan  of  the  l  Index  Rerum,'  by  Rev.  Di 
Todd,  is  better  adapted  to  the  object  for  which  it  is  intended,  than  any  other  with 
which  I  am  acquainted.  __  Its  great  excellence  consists  in  its  simplicity,  and  this  ren- 
ders its  advantages  so  obvious,  that  to  those  who  want  anything  of  the  kind,  an  inspec- 
tion of  the  work  must  preclude  the  necessity  of  any  recommendation." — Ex-President 
MARK  HOPKINS,  Williams  College,  Mass. 

"  It  has  been  in  use  for  over  half  a  century,  and  exoenence  has  shown  it  to  be»an  in- 
dispensable part  of  every  literary  man's  equipment.'* — Chicago  Interior. 
"  It  is  unquestionably  the  best  book  of  the  kind  issued." — A  Ibany  Evening  Journal 
"The  *  Index  Rerum,'  as  invented  and  prepared  by  Rev.  Dr.  John  Todd,  is  per 
haps  one  of  the  best  possible  means  of  arranging  the  results  of  one's  reading,  so  as  tc 
make  them  afterward  readily  accessible This  Index  Rerum,  or  something  simi- 
lar to  it,  should  be  studied  and  used  by  one  who  would  make  his  store  of  learning 
accessible."— N.  W.  Christian  Advocate. 

Sent  post-paid,  on  receipt  of  price,  by 

THE  BAKER  &  TAYLOR  CO.,  Publishers, 

74O  and  742  Broadway,  New  York, 


EVANGELISTIC   WORK 

In  Principle  and  Practice. 


By  Rev.  ARTHUR   T.   PERSON,   D.D. 
12  mo,   Cloth,   $1.25. 


A  new  book  on  that  method  which  has  been  one  of  the  most 
potent  means  of  building  up  the  Christian  Church — Evangelization. 
It  is  written  by  an  acknowledged  master  of  the  subject. 

"  This  book  is  preeminently  a  book  for  the  hour.  It  is  at  once 
a  fruit  of  the  reviving  evangelistic  spirit  and  a  welcome  and  powerful 
force  for  the  promotion  of  that  spirit  among  the  disciples  of  Christ. 
All  who  are  working  for  Christ,  especially  all  ministers  and  teachers, 
ought  to  procure  and  study  this  book." — Christian  Statesman. 

"  More  truth,  perhaps,  than  can  be  found  in  any  single  uninspired 
book,  concerning  'evangelistic  work,'  is  included  in  a  volume  with 
this  title,  by  Arthur  T.  Pierson,  D.  D.  Truths  of  the  first  importance 
are  spoken  concerning  methods  and  the  treatment  of  the  poor.  After 
having  set  down  the  principle  as  he  believes  it  to  be,  the  author  has 
enforced  it  in  sketches  of  Whitefield,  Howard,  Finney,  Chalmers, 
Moody,  Bliss,  and  others.  The  book  ought  to  have  a  wide  circulation ; 
it  cannot  but  be  productive  of  the  greatest  good." — Hartford  Post. 

"Every  phase  of  the  question  is  discussed,  the  methods  and 
merits  of  different  evangelists  are  set  forth,  apostolic  and  modern 
preaching  compared,  and  the  causes  of  failure  and  success  in  minis- 
terial work  portrayed.  It  is  a  book  to  be  studied  by  all  church 
workers. " — Indianapolis  Journal. 

"  The  book  is  dedicated  to  Dwight  L.  Moody,  and  would  seem 
to  contain  nearly  all  that  can  be  said  in  the  way  of  information, 
instruction,  example,  or  exhortation  upon  the  subject. " 

— Baptist  Standard. 

"  The  chapters  on  the  great  Evangelists  are  delightfully  written 
in  a  lofty  and  devout  spirit." — Indianapolis  News. 

"  His  views  will  be  accepted  as  of  orthodox  authority." 

—  Washington  Critic, 

Sent)  postpaid,  on  receipt  of  the  price,  by 

THE    BAKER    &    TAYLOR    CO., 

Publishers, 

74O  and  742  Broadway,  New  York. 


